Still Breathing
by Maraudersgirl89
Summary: What do you mean he was still breathing? All is not how it seemed.
1. Something to fight for

It was a crisp night. All seemed to be silent, all the houses were going dark as their owners climbed into their beds. The leaves rustled, and a swing in a backyard creaked in the soft wind that blew. It was as the town of Godric's Hollow always was, peaceful. Yet inside one house, everything was but peaceful.

"Lily! It's him! Take Harry and Go! I'll try to hold him off!" James Potter yelled to his wife, Lily Potter, as the sound of their door being cursed off its hinges sounded through the house. Once James saw that Lily had made it up stares, James turned all his attention to the man, no monster, which would have to step over his dead body before it got any closer to his wife and son.

"Do you really think that your mudblood wife will get away that easily Potter?" Voldemort hissed at James.

"Don't you touch her Voldemort! Or my son!" James yelled holding his wand steadied and keeping it pointed at Voldemort's chest. '_Lily will use the portkey and her and Harry will be safe. They'll be safe at Hogwarts.' _James thought trying not to let Voldemort's words get to him.

"I do hope that your not thinking that the portkey that mudblood loving fool left you will still be there? In that adorable little hiding spot among the little brats toys." Voldemort said. Then with out warning he shot a curse at James. James only just got out of the way.

"STUPIFY!" James shouted back and a jet of red light flew out of his wand and straight toward Voldemort. But with a wave of his wand, Voldemort deflexed the curse, and it in stead it hit a picture on the wall, shattering the glass. The battle continued on, some curses getting through on both sides, though James was coming off worse.

"Tell me Potter, how does it feel knowing that everyone you love is going to die?" Voldemort said in between curse.

'_He's just trying to get to you don't listen. He's trying to make you break focus, don't let him brake you.' _James thought furiously to himself.

"Or better yet how does it feel to know that someone you trusted, betrayed you by placing you right into my hands. I believe you know whom I speak of." Voldemort hissed.

That got James. In that moment the weeks and months pry to this flashed through his mind: Him going to Sirius, asking Sirius to protect his family. Sirius saying that it would be safer to use someone else as everyone would suspect him. Peter and Sirius asking to have a word with him at Harry's first birthday. _Peter_. Peter saying that Remus has been acting odd lately. Peter saying that he had reason to believe that Remus might be the spy. Sirius saying that using Peter would be a perfect bluff. "_Who would use some one who barely made it out of Hogwarts alive?"_ Peter saying that it would be an honor to protect his, James', family. _Peter_. Peter saying that he would feel safer if no one knew about the switch, not even the order, because of the spy. Making Peter the secret keeper.

_Peter._

Seeing that he had gotten through and effected James, with a wave of his wand Voldemort sent James flying across the room. James hit the wall with a sickening crack and slumped to the floor. James tried to see straight but was having a very hard time doing it. He tried to feel for his wand around him as he saw a burl slowly move towards him. Then James was lifted off the floor and was hanging in the air in front of Voldemort.

"Well, well, well, look at this. Dumbledore's golden boy at the hands of Lord Voldemort. Oh, how I wish the old fool were here to see this. Hm, now, what shall I do with you? It seems highly anticlimactic to just kill you after all we've been through,"

James struggled to get out of the hold Voldemort had over his body, but it was no use. The last blow James took made him too weak to perform any wandless magic. Instead of cursing Voldemort as he so dearly wanted to James did the next best thing he could think of in his current position. He spat right into Voldemort's right eye. He saw that there was some blood mixed in with his salvia.

"You stupid, foolish boy!" Voldemort yelled. "Cruiso!" And James felt, not for the first time in his life, the power of Lord Voldemort's cruisardus cures. It took ever ounces of will power and energy he had left in his body not to scream out with pain.

"I have said it before Potter," Voldemort said as he lifted the cures off James, yet kept him suspended in the air. "If you were to join me, you would prove to be a most promising Death Eater. Consider this your last chance."

"How fucking thick are you? I will NEVER join you!" James yelled anger flowing through his veins.

"We shall see. We shall see. Maybe after I kill your wife and son you will think differently. Yet, they are not all that you fight for are they," Voldemort added after seeing a flicker of pain and determination pass through James hazel eyes. "Or should I say all _who_ you fight for. No, no I think it will be better to see after I have killed them all. Down to the ever last mudblood loving fool." Voldemort laughed a high-pitched cruel laugh that made the hair on the back of James' neck stand up. James stayed silent.

'_If I keep him busy down here, Lily will have found another way out. She would have gotten Harry out by now. They're safe. But I have to stall him as long as I can to be sure.'_

"Hm, now how should we go about this? I can't keep you with me. The mudblood lovers will come looking for you. Ah, yes. That will work nicely. Potter, how would you like to act as my tester?" Voldemort asked James, although by the tone of his voice that James had no say in the matter. "You see I have devised a new spell, though I have been unable to test it properly. Lets see if it works shall we?" Voldemort took a step back from James and pointed his wand at James' chest.

"You know, you might as well point it at my heart." James said dryly.

"Oh no Mr. Potter, this spell is not meant for your heart." Then Voldemort cast a spell that emitted a white mist that hovered in the air for only on moment, then shot at James' chest. At once, James could feel a change pass over his body. His breathing became deeper, and breathes farer apart. It felt as though he was falling asleep. Voldemort then took something from within his robes. It was a vial. And inside was a gold liquid. Voldemort opened James mouth with a flick of his wand, and pour the liquid into James' mouth. The feeling of falling asleep intensified. From what seemed like a very far distance away he heard Voldemort say,

"I will pass your love along to your mudblood and little brat Potter. And I shall see you again." With a thud, James fell to the floor, and from his position he could see Voldemort move toward the stares.

"No," James said, trying to fight off whatever spell Voldemort put on him. "Lily. Harry." And James fell into a world of darkness as a scream rang through the house.

A.N-Please make me an oh so happy girl and please please review. Any kind of reviews fine, but please be kind.


	2. Mourning and Firewhiskey

Silence was not some thing new to be found inside number 12 Grimmauld Place. Nor was it uncommon to hear a soft thud of a firewhiskey bottle being set back on the table breaking said silence. Sirius Black stared at the bottle that rest on the table with his hand around it still. It seemed pointless to remove his hand, as he would bring the bottle back to his lips in no less than two minutes. Never before had he drank so profusely. Sure he had gotten smashed while at Hogwarts and after he had graduated, but he never drank for these reasons before. He had never drank to forget before come back to this hellhole he was imprisoned in. But today was slightly different for Sirius in his reasons to drink. The fact that he had company was another different factor for Sirius' drinking routine.

It was Halloween. The first Halloween Sirius could really feel the impact of the significance of the day. In Azkaban, you didn't really need a calendar, as a result, Sirius never knew what day it was. Before even a year had passed he had given up on keeping track of time. Then when he had escaped, there was no time to sit and think about the past. He had Harry to protect, and he would do Harry no good if he was moping, he did that enough in Azkaban anyways.

The second year of being free was spent trying to fit pieces of strange occurrences together. Dumbledore thought they were connected and he was trying to see where the old man was going with them. His brain was so racked that he hadn't even realized the day had come and gone until a letter from Harry arrived making only thoughts of protecting him fill his head, which left no room for other thoughts. It made him feel sick and disgusted with himself for forgetting something of this magnitude.

"You know," Sirius said to Remus Lupin who was sat across from Sirius in the gloomy basement kitchen, "I have never once, not once, ask Harry what Halloweens are like for him. Hell we never even talked about James except if we're talking about a prank we pulled. Oh god. I'm a horrible godfather." And with that said he let his head fall onto the table with a thud. Remus chuckled a little and took a swig of his own bottle

"That's just the Firewhiskey talking Padfoot." He said.

"No its not." Sirius replied not even bothering to lift his head off the table. "What kind of godfather doesn't say anything regarding the death of his godson's father's to his godson? Who? I'll tell you who. Me that's who." Sirius then proceeded to bang his head on the table ever so slightly. His statement made him sound like a child. A child who had too much Firewhiskey to drink, mind you.

"Sirius will you stop that. If your so upset, next time you see Harry you can ask him if he thinks about his dead parents while he's at the Halloween feast alright?" Remus said. At these words Sirius stopped banging his head and looked up at his friend. " Go ahead and ask Harry if he misses people that he never got to know. I'm sure that's just what he wants to talk about with you." Remus said the last part with harshness in his voice that made Sirius sit up straight, readying himself for a fight. Seeing Sirius' reaction Remus added in a softer tone, "Harry never knew them Sirius. I'm sure that he wishes he had parents. I'm positive that he wishes for parents actually. But how could he miss the _people_ that he never knew?"

"He can miss them," Sirius started, but Remus interrupted him.

"I know, but, oh god maybe I don't know. Maybe this is just the Firewhiskey talking." He said taking a sip from his bottle. "All I'm trying to say is that he might miss parents, but not Lily and James themselves, as he never knew them to miss them. Make sense? And if you start talking to him about it, it might make him feel bad for it. Oh I don't even know what the hell I'm talking about anymore." Remus paused to take another sip of his Firewhiskey then said, "Don't worry about it alright? If he ever wants to talk about it, just make sure your sober for it."

Silence filled the kitchen again only being broken by the sound of their bottles hitting the tabletop. Each lost in their thoughts. Remus, trying to figure out if anything he had just said made any sense what so ever and if he was even right in his assumptions of Harry's feelings towards his parents. _He_ understood what he was trying to say, but whether it came out right was a different story. Harry never knew Lily and James. He never knew how James leaned forward when he laughed, and that Lily leaned back when she laughed. All of the habits James had that drove Lily up the wall were a complete mystery to Harry. That is taking into account that he even knows that James made Lily crazy. With all the missing information about Lily and James, how could he miss them? Remus understood that any orphan would want their parents back. But were parents and Lily and James, the people, they were the same thing? Yes they were his parents but… Remus sighed and placed his head in his hands. With all this complex think and all the Firewhiskey he was sure to be getting a headache.

Sirius was also thinking about what Remus has said. Sirius did not know how, but some of what Remus had said made sense to him. Harry knew so little about Lily and James. And that fact made Sirius heartache. He knew that he was to blame for Harry's lack of information. But it hurt so much for Sirius to think about it. He couldn't imagine what it would be like talking about it to someone that, if you were not looking in his eyes, could be James Potter himself. Once again the feeling of disgusted ness and sickness over came Sirius.

"Bloody fuckn' prick." Sirius said suddenly in-between sips of his firewhiskey. He said with such of a matter-of-fact tone that Remus stared. Was he really thinking about Snape at a time like this?

"Come again?" Remus said, still watching Sirius who was looking at wall opposite him.

"Voldemort," Sirius said, turning to look at Remus, face completely serious. "Voldemort is a bloody fuckn' prick." Remus could not help but laugh at Sirius' statement.

"Here, here." He said holding up his bottle. Sirius flowed suit and lifted his bottle as well.

"Cheers mate." Sirius said to Remus. They both proceeded to take a swig of whiskey. Then Sirius raised his bottle once more and said with his eyes towards the ceiling, "And here's to you guys," and downed the reaming contents of the bottle. Remus did the same.

"Wow, get pretty emotional in here. Agh, I'm going to bed. I think I could live without seeing you cry Moony. Night." And with that Sirius rose from his chair, staggering slightly, and left the kitchen leaving Remus sitting there. Remus smiled sadly and shook his head and started to make his way up to bed as well.

It had been many years since Remus had or felt the need to drink himself into numbness on Halloween. In the beginning it was so hard. Firewhiskey was the only thing that seemed to dim the pain. Over the years, Remus began to come to terms with the deaths and loss of his friends. But, he knew that tonight Sirius would need him to be there tonight. So he was.

Hundreds and hundreds of miles away in one of the oldest cemeteries in England, inside a family tomb that had been there since the beginning of the cemetery, something very unnatural was happening. Inside the Potter Family mausoleum, a white light seemed to be spilling out of every tiny crack of one particular tomb. The tomb of James Potter the Third was emitting a white light, which seemed to almost be some sort of fog. Then as quickly as it had appeared, the emitting of the white light stopped.

James Potter's eyes snapped open for the first time in fourteen years.

A.N-How was that? What did you guys think of Remus and Sirius? Keep in mind though, they had been drinking. Please, please give me some feed back. It would put a BIG smile on my face. And I would just like to thank silverpheonix2, Knight-whosays-ni, Eric2, Lil Miss Potter(I got your review) and DawnRising. You guys reallymade my day.


	3. Awakening

Blackness. Complete and total blackness. Not exactly what James Potter wanted to see when he opened his eyes. James made to sit up quickly but was stop as when he picked his head up it hit into something very hard. Stone hard to be specific. Now James started to panic. When he moved his arm however, with all intentions to try and feel around what ever the hell he was in, he discovered that his wand was in his hand. It was then that James noticed that his right arm was positioned across his chest with his hand, closed around his wand, resting on his heart. Not pausing to think James yell "Reducto!" and a hole was blasted through the stone that was above him. If he had hoped that light might shine into whatever he was in, he was wrong. Only a small flick could be seen, hardly enough light sufficient to see very well by.

James heaved himself through the hole he had managed to make. Once out James sharpen his senses. Where the hell was he? And where the hell were Lily and Harry? What had happened? Questions were flashing through James head so fast that many of them were not even fully processed in his mind. All that he knew was that he wanted his wife and son. Wand out in front James began to take in his surrounding just as Moody had taught him. Not evening finishing his scan of the room, James got the sickening feeling he knew where he was. The family mausoleum. The walls were made of stone and had two troches, which were the only source of light, on either side of the entrance. He had not been inside the mausoleum since he and his father buried his mother. _' What the hell is Voldemort playing at?' _James thought continuing his scan of the mausoleum. Once he was sure that he was alone, James turned back to see what he had be in cased inside. It was a tomb. His breath caught in his throat. Had that sick bastered put him inside one of his family members tomb? He took a step closer to see whose tomb he had been placed in. When he read whose tomb it was, James nearly fell back in shock.

James Harry Potter the Third

Loving Son, Loyal Friend, and Dedicated Husband and Father

' _A man to be admired by all'_

Died in Battle

This had to be a joke. A sick, sick joke that none other then Voldemort could pull. How could people think he was dead? He wasn't dead was he? As that thought crossed his mind, James immediately felt his body. Nope, not a ghost. Then James remembered that you had to choose if you wanted to become a ghost or not. And he didn't remember ever having to decide because he never would have chosen to be a ghost. Looking back at the inscription something next to his own tomb caught his eye. If James thought he had a hard time breathing after seeing he was placed in a tomb, he was most certainly wrong. Grasping the side of his own tomb, James struggled to breath. _'No. NO! She can't be. She's not.'_ Not evening know what he was doing, James found his head rising to look at the tomb that was positioned directly next to his. He stayed standing next to his tomb, not trusting his legs to carry him, and read what was written on the tomb. Tears had filled his eyes making the inscription on the tomb become blurred. But he knew what it said.

Lily Samantha Potter

Loving Daughter, Loyal Friend and Dedicated Wife and Mother

'To love her was to know her'

Lily. His sweet, beautiful Lily. Oh god. How could this have happened? James fell to the ground beside his tomb. The pain he felt for the loss of his Lily was more then anything James had ever experienced before. He always thought that he would be the one to die first. He was the one who was an Auror, he was the one who was always rushing off into battle, he was the one who took the stupid risks that could lead to him getting killed. Lily had a safe job as a healer, Lily went into battle as a last resort and even when she did fight she was never the front line, and she always thought her actions through. It never crossed his mind that she would die first. And the fact that she had…

A moan of pain escaped from James as he thought of his wife's beautiful face that he would never get to see again. And for the first time since he was 16, James Potter cried. More thoughts of Lily flew through his mind as he sat on the floor sobbing. Pain, sorrow, hatred and anger filled James so much that he thought he was going to burst. The pain of losing her, the sorrow that he had failed her, the hatred toward the man who ruined his life all mixed together. And then anger. Anger towards Lily herself. What the hell was she playing at? She knew well and good that he could not live with out her. Why did she leave him? Why didn't she break a fucking window to get out of the house? Why did she leave him?

"WHY!" James yelled out loud looking furiously at the ceiling. Sparks shot from his wand and the mausoleum began to shake around him. But James paid to mind. "WHY DID YOU LEAVE ME? Oh god, Lily why did you have to…" He couldn't finish, the pain was all too much for him to handle. Sobs over came his body with such force that he nearly fell completely onto the floor. '_Lily, oh god. No this can be happening to me. She can't be. No, no. My wife. The mother of my child.'_

Suddenly, for the third time that night, James breath caught in this throat at his last thought. _'The mother of my child. HARRY!' _His son. Oh god, his sweet baby boy, what happened to Harry. '_No, oh please no not my son. Not my boy!' _James thought. He had lost his son as well. No moan escaped from James at this thought though, no, it was a yell that seemed to come from his ever heart itself. A yell filled with so much pain that it would make anyone who heard it want to cry. It was a yell of a man who had lost everything dear to him. He couldn't do it any more; James fell to the floor, unable to take the emotions that were surely slowly drowning him.

He was unsure for how long he had been just laying there on the ground in front of his tomb, crying. He had stopped crying, but he still felt the pain. Oh god did he feel the pain. His sorrow seemed to have moved beyond tears. On wobbly legs, some how James managed to stand. Staggering a little from exhaustion, James steady himself by placing a hand on his tomb. Slowly, he started to move along the side of his tomb, towards the head. He walked past his tomb to stand at the head of Lily's. Standing there for a moment, subconsciously tracing the inscription with a finger, James looked at the tomb that held his beloved Lily. Unable to look at hers for any longer, he turned to see the tomb he had not seen the night before. His son's. _'No father should have to see their child's coffin.'_ James thought as he was turning his head. But, there was nothing there. In the spot where a child was suppose to be, there was empty space. James' father had explained the concept of the family tomb to him. First the husband then the wife, and last the son. That was the order the tombs were to go in. And his son's tomb was not there. James started to move around the mausoleum in search for Harry's tomb. '_Why hell did they put him with me and Lily?'_ James thought as he searched. Even though it would cause him pain, he had to see it, he had to see his son.After looking at almost ever tomb, James froze.

He tried not to let the thoughts he was thinking get to him, but was having a hard time. Did the absent of Harry's tomb mean…No it couldn't. How in the world could he have? Unless…. Unless, he never…

"Hello? Anybody in here?" said a voice from just outside the mausoleum.

A.N- Couldn't help it. I had to make a chiffhanger. Sorry. What did you guys think though? Let me know please. I love to see "review alert" in my mailbox. This story takes place during Harry's fifth year. And I forgot to make a Disclaimer before, so here it is

Disclaimer- JKR is the ruler of all things Harry Potter. And....well I'm not her.


	4. Dreams and Snaping a little

"You alright there mate?" Ron Weasley said braking into his best friend's thoughts. Harry looked up from his plate of food that he had been staring at for the past five minutes while not eating any of the food it held.

"What? Oh yea, I'm fine just… Just thinking," Harry replied. He had been doing that a lot lately. Just thinking. The topics of thought seemed to be the same ones too. If they weren't of the horrible Umbridge women, who was driving him completely mad, it was thoughts about his godfather, if not them, then it was his ever mounting school work load. And when all those topics where done giving him a very large head ache, that was when thoughts about his weird dreams came to the surface.

Most of the time it was dreams about dark troche lit corridors and locked doors. They were the most common. Hell they were practically the only ones he had. But last night, he had a different dream, which was currently taking control of Harry's thought. He had dreamt about the night of the third task. Or at least that's was how it started. Now Harry had dreamt about that night many, many times over the summer. Having dreams about it was nothing new. But, he never really dreamt about the part of the night that started his dream. Last night, he dreamed about how his mother had come out of Voldemort's wand. The reverse spell effect as Dumbledore had called it.

In his dream, Cedric Diggory and all the others came out, just like they had, and then his mother. His mother told him how to get back to Hogwarts and said that everything would be alright, just as she had when it happened in real life. But in his dream, he wasn't looking at his mother while she was talking to him; he was looking at Voldemort's wand. Waiting. Waiting for one more person to come out.

"He's not coming out Harry." Dream Lily had said to him softly seeing Harry looking towards Voldemort's wand hopefully, expectantly.

"What? Why not? You came! I need to see him. Where is he?" Harry said back. He fought even harder to hold onto his wand, he had to hold on till he saw him.

"In time Harry, in time. I promise." She said looking at him with something close to sorrow in her eyes. "Now go! Break the connection now and run!" And Harry did. But then, instead of running from the death eaters, he was sitting in a room. It was a very comfortable room, very cozy. He was sitting there and he felt so warm, so happy. And all he was doing was talking to someone. His father. They weren't talking about anything important, just talking. It was exactly like his thought when fighting dementors, well, maybe not exactly. His "happy thought" had been talking with both of his parents. Yet, he was just talking with James in the dream.

He had this dream just the night before, Halloween, and he could think of nothing else since he woke up. The fact that his father had not come out of Voldemort's wand had never really processed in his mind. Sure he knew that he didn't come out, but Harry never really thought about it. He just assumed that if Lily had waited for James to come out to tell Harry how to get back, that he would have missed his chance. But now, for some reason that just didn't seem to fit. He couldn't put his finger on why, but it just… He had never told Dumbledore or Sirius that the shadow, or echo, or whatever the hell they were, James never emerged. It just never seemed important. Yet now that he was thinking about it, he couldn't shake the feeling that it was.

"Harry, come on we're gonna be late if we don't get going." This time it was Hermione that broke through Harry's thoughts. "Are you sure that your okay Harry? You didn't eat any of your lunch. Maybe you should,"

"Don't tell him what to do Hermione, maybe he wasn't hungry eh?" Ron said cutting Hermione off and rising to Harry's defense before Harry himself could open his mouth.

"I'm only concerned for Harry, Ron," she said back to Ron.

Shaking his head and smiling slightly at Ron and Hermione's bickering, Harry rose from his seat, and started out of the Great Hall. He blocked out their bickering, as anyone who spent time around them would learn how to do, and let his thoughts travel back to his dream.

"Who's there?" The voice from outside the mausoleum called again. Unsure of what to do James remanded silent hoping that this person would leave. But then a thought stuck him.

"Just a family member," James said walking closer to the entrance, sliding his wand up his sleeve. The mausoleum was in a muggle cemetery after all. Once he had reached the entrance, he had to blink several times. The light was so bright that it made his eyes water. Stepping back James eyes began to feel better, readjusting to the dark. With his sight returned to him, he took a look at the mad that stood in the entrance. It was an old man. A muggle no doubt. He was wearing old and patched overalls with a blue collared shirt under it, with a set of about ten, just as old keys, clipped on to the overalls. He was looking at James with apparent shock on his face. Clearly, even though he was calling out, he had not expected anyone to respond.

"How in the world did you get in here son?" The man asked James. "This mausoleum is kept locked at all times. And it was locked till I just opened it." He said.

"Oh, well you see I was let in last night and I guess the man who let me in thought I had left and locked the door while I was still inside." James said with ease. After all the times he had lied to teachers, lies just seemed to roll off his tongue now.

"You must have come pretty late to have Ben on sift. His sift starts at ten. Visiting hours are between ten and eight you know." The old man said his face showing annoyance at this Ben guy.

"He did not want to let me in, but I told him that I need to see my wife and son. And, well I guess he took pity on him because he let me in." James said. He didn't want this Ben guy to get into trouble because of his lie. It seemed however that he had said the wrong thing.

"What do you mean your wife and son? This mausoleum hasn't been opened for fourteen years which would have made you, what about six, hardly old enough to be married. What the hell are you playing at?" the man said to James.

"W-what?" James croaked out. How could the last time the mausoleum have been opened be fourteen years ago? They had to open it to put Lily and Harry inside. Then the reason he had called back out at the man came back to his mind. Ignoring the mans questions James said, "Have any tombs been taken out recently for repairs or anything lately?" thinking that maybe they took Harry's tomb out for a repair or something.

"I told you, this hasn't been opened for fourteen years. Now tell me what the hell you're doing in here." The old man said stepping into the mausoleum to look around. Then he spotted the pieces of stone that had been blown off when James blasted his way out of his tomb. "What the hell have you done?" the old man yelled at James. Then he turned to look at James again "If you think that your gonna get out a here after robbing one of these tombs you are sorely mistaken."

But James wasn't listening to a word the man said. The mausoleum hadn't been open in fourteen years. The cemetery's workers had surly been the ones to put Lily's tomb in here because it was in its place and it had an inscription on it. That means that her tomb, along with his he had just realized, had been here for fourteen years. And if Harry's wasn't here then that must mean that he… Or that his body was never…

The old man was slowly making his way toward the entrance staring at James. James couldn't let him go. Not until he knew what the hell was going on. Pulling his wand out from him sleeve in one quick movement, and then with an equally quick wave of his wand, the old man flew into the wall. Advancing on the old man James lifted him off his feet with a flick of his wand so that the old man was now on his feet in front of the wall. Grabbing the collar of his shirt James growled,

"Tell me everything you know about the people that were last put into this mausoleum!"

The old man, clearly in pain from being thrown into a wall whimpered. "I don't know anything. I had just started working here. Please don't hurt me. Please." But James was beyond reason. He couldn't here the old mans pleas nor could he see that the old man was in pain.

"Tell me what you know!" James growled again putting his wand to the man's throat.

"Drop your wand and step away from the man!" A new voice said firmly. Turning James saw that a wizard, an Auror going by the kind of robes he was wearing. When James did not move the wizard repeated, "Drop the wand and step away from the man!"

James did so. He still had his eyes trained on the wizard. He was so close to finding some information out that he was not going to let some fucking new-be mess it up for him. With a slight jerk of his head to the left, the wizard was sent into another wall, hitting it was considerable force. Before the wizard could get on his feet properly again, James had picked up his wand and stunned him. Turning back to the old man who had sunk to the floor, James picked him up by the collar again and said in a cold, hard voice

"Where can I get information about the people buried in here?" he asked.

"I-in the, the main building. P-please, d-d-don't kill me!" the man pleaded. But James just dropped him, took his keys and left the mausoleum, head toward the main building. In his haste to leave, he did not see a blinking light coming from the tip of the, still stunned, Auror's wand.

A.N-How was that one? That wasn't a bad chiffy was it? If it was I'm sorry. This story acts as if there was no OoTp. I know that I should accept Sirius' fate, but I can't, so I wont. And as for if Voldemort has any plans for James...well you'll just have to wait and see.....You guys have no idea how big my smile is when Dr. Evil tells me I have mail and I see "Review alert". Sooooo please, please hit that review button and make me a happy girl. ;)


	5. Information Seeking

It was so boring working at a cemetery. When he had first gotten the job, he thought it would be so cool. How many people could say, "I work in a cemetery"? Not many. And the reason behind that fact is because it's so fucking boring. Jack Thomson sat behind the front desk of the main building, lazily flipping through the pages of his magazine. But all of a sudden, the front door went flying off its hinges, breaking the usual silence. The noise scared Jack so much that he had fallen off his chair. Shaking like mad, he lifted his head up to see over the desk. He saw a man with jet-black messy hair walking into the building dressed in the oddest clothes. Looking around the man spotted Jack from his position behind the desk. With a wave of a stick thing, he had Jack floating in mid air. Walking over to him, Jack saw that his man had a look in his eyes that showed that he was angry. Very angry.

"Were can I find information about people buried in this cemetery?" the man growled at Jack once he had reached him.

"In the back room. That's were all the information is." Jack said in a rush prying that this man wouldn't kill him. At his words the man let Jack fall to the floor and started toward the back room. He had reached a door that was to the left of Jacks desk when he stopped and turned.

"I'll have to take you with. Can't have you calling for help before I find out what I need to know." The man said, then he muttered some words Jack couldn't hear, and Jack was floating again, and was drifting to the man. Not looking at Jack he turned and opened the door after pointing his stick thing at the handle. Once they were both inside, the man closed and locked the door, and looked around the room. It was filled with filing cabinets. If he were to look into each one, it would take forever. A soft whimper for the boy he had floating in the air behind him, gave him an idea.

"I need information on the Potter family. Find it for me and I wont hurt you."  
The man said, and Jack dropped to the floor. Although, this time, he was dropped lighter and he was able to fall on his feet.

"I, I don't have the keys," Jack said. The man said nothing but pulled from his pocket a set of ten keys. Jack gasp when he saw them, they were John's keys. Had this man killed John?

"Get moving and find me that information!" the man snapped. Taking the keys from the man, Jack began to move through the filing cabinets, looking for the one with a "P" on it. "And I didn't kill the old man if that's what your wondering." He added as Jack continued to look.

"Found it," Jack said. At his words the man hurried to his side. Jack looked at all the keys, picked the right one and brought his hand up to the lock. It was then that he saw his hand was shaking. Once the draw was opened, Jack leafed through the files. The man looked around impatiently as Jack searched. "You, you said the Potters right?" Jack asked as he found the right file and pulled it out. The man garbed it out of Jacks hands and opened the file.

Jack started in inch away from the man as the flipped through the file. Hoping that he would forget about him. He watched as the man skipped several pages and went to the back. When he had reached the last page he stopped and stared at it.

James read the page that he had been looking for. Though it didn't hold information he wanted to see. The paper had said something to the effect that the last two people add to the mausoleum were James and Lily Potter, who had been placed in on November 3rd fourteen years ago. It said nothing about Harry. Turning to look at the boy that worked here to ask a question, he saw that the boy was making his way closer to the door.

"Hey!" James yelled. Pointing his wand that the boy, he made him fly back to James. Once he had reached James, James turned him around so he was looking at the boy in the face. "There's not information on there deaths in here. Did someone take them out?" James asked gripping the boy's shoulders tightly. When the boy shook his head James said, "Where can I find information about there deaths?"

"I don't know. Please Mister, let me go please!" the boy begged.

"Give me a answer and I'll let you go." James said back. He watched as the boy's eyes looked bout wildly while trying to think of where James could get information.

"Maybe, maybe in old newspapers." The boy said hopefully, clearly praying that James would take the answer and leave. At the boys words James felt slightly stupid that he didn't think of that early.

Before James could say or do anything else however, for the second time that day James heard an unfamiliar voice say,

"Drop your wand and step away from the boy!" Sighing, James released his hold on the boy and turned to look at who had spoken this time. This time however, it was not one Auror, but three. The one from before and two others, all of which had their wands pointed at James. When James had let go over the boy he ran away from James. James watched the boy run before turning back to the Aurors. He had still had yet to drop his wand.

"Drop your wand!" One of the Aurors said again. James did not. Then with out warning he fired spells at the three. He got one right away, the second one went down after have two spells fired at him and the last one put up a little fight, much to James' annoyance. But, it didn't take him long at all to finally get him, now having all three Aurors down. Yet again, James did not see the blinking light from their wands.

James walked out of the room; he had to get that boy too. Couldn't have him running to the police or anything. '_Dumb kid.'_ James thought has he found the boy hiding under his desk. Kneeling down to his leave James said,

"Thanks for your help kid." Then he stunned him. He stood up right and then apperated to Godric's Hollow.

* * *

Auror Headquarters at the Ministry of Magic

She hated being in this damn building. She hated having to work for these idiots and with these idiots. The only good thing was that she had a lot of respect and seniority to get away with a lot of shit. God was she bored. There was no work; well no work that anyone would admit was there, to be done.

"Mahoney went out there to check it out, and his stunning alarm went off. So Grisham and Higgins were sent after him, and there alarms went off as well," she heard someone say out side her office. Walking out of her office to see who was talking, she saw that it Tonks and Shacklebolt. They were alright, she liked them more then the others in any case.

"What's going on?" Paige Summers asked the two Aurors. They both turned to look at her, and Tonks smiled at her.

"Wotcher Summers. We were just talking about those new stunning alarms. Bloody annoying things they are when they go off. But any ways, Mahoney was flirting with one of those big-breasted bimbos down in Magical Law Enforcement when they got information on magical use in a muggle area. Not that uncommon thing you know, well the idiot decide to show off and he went to take care of it. Only problem was he got stunned. Then when Grisham and Higgins went after him to see what happened, soon after their stunned alarms go off. And nobody can figure out what the hell's going on." Tonks said. Paige changed her mind. She really did like this girl.

"Where was all this happening?" Paige asked. Tonks and Shacklebolt looked at each briefly, though it was not unnoticed by Paige. "Where did this happen?" she asked again when they still hadn't answered her.

"It happened in a cemetery out in the country." Shacklebolt said.

"If we had guys apparated there we must have a more specific location then that." Paige said. There was something about this that she didn't like.

"It happened inside a mausoleum. The Potter mausoleum." Shacklebolt said in his clam voice. Paige's eyes flashed at the mention of the Potters.

"Someone was in the Potter mausoleum, did magic, and then went about stunning Aurors?" Paige said, her voice sounding dangerous.

"Yes." Tonks replied. Paige turned back into her office, grabbed her cloak, and then turned back to Tonks and Shacklebolt.

"Tell whoever's heading this operation that I'm heading it now." And with that, she disapparated.

* * *

A.N-Gasp Who was she and why is she so pissed? Guess you'll just have to wait and see. Wow, that was kinda evil of me. I would like to wish Fiona12690 a happy birthday and I hope you have a good one.

Please please make me smile and see lots of "review alerts" in my mailbox.


	6. Information Seeking II

_Pop!_ The faint sound was almost lost in the wooded area where James had just apparate to. _'Great. Just what I needed. Rain.' _He thought dully while taking in his surroundings, and indeed it was raining. Hard.The woodslooked just about the same as it always had. It was a bit more over grown then it used to be, but… With a sigh James started to make his way out of the woods, walking slightly faster then normal. There were sure to be more Aurors to come soon. But James couldn't bring himself to care. His thoughts were on his family. And how he had let them down.

He felt anger at himself for letting thoughts that Harry might be… Well he was angry for think the imposable. There was no way those pervious thoughts could have been true. And he never should have thought other whys. It was when he reached the edge of the woods that he finally realized that he was wearing wizard's robes. His best robes, as he looked at them closer. What the hell was going on? Pointing his wand at his clothes, he changed them to be a black shirt and blue jeans. Which were quickly becoming very wet. Then he walked fully out of the woods, but stopped at the sight that greeted him. The buildings were all in the same places, but this surly could _not_ be his town. This could not be the town where he and Lily wanted to raise their son. The town that he apparated to was horrible. There was vandalism on each and ever building. All the cute little stores that Lily had gushed over were either out of business and completely run down, or turned into bars and Tattoo parlors. Walking further out of the woods, James saw something that yet again stopped him in his tracks. It was a Sign. A sign that read "Welcome to Godric's Hollow" in pealed gold writing, well if you could really read it through the graffiti that was covering the sign that's what it said.

James looked around in shock. _'What the hell had happened?'_ Not wanting to continue standing in the street, he started to make his way to where the library had been, hoping that it would still be there. To his surprise and relief, it was still standing there. Hurrying up the steppes, James took another look around him before entering. The library looked the same, yet different as well. Everything was still in the same place, but nothing was kept was nicely has it used to be. It suddenly accrued to him that there might not be anyone working here. Slowly, he made his way to where the desk was. Reaching it, he saw a women sitting there reading a book. Letting out a breath he didn't know he was hold and said,

"Excuse me. I was wondering if you could show me the town's old newspapers are. Ones from November to be exact." The woman was clearly shocked to hear his voice. It was evident from the way she jumped when he had spoke.

"Oh, hello," she said pleasantly. "I must say it has been a long time before anyone had come into here looking for a book or anything of the sort," she continued, completely missing the look on James face, which showed that he didn't give a damn about what she was talking about. "And somebody asking for old newspaper is very rare,"

"Ma'am, just show me the damn newspapers, and then leave me alone." James said, voice hard and cold. At the tone of his voice, the women stiffened.

"Right this way sir." And she got up and walked out from behind the desk. She led him to the back of the library, and through a door at the back. They were in large room with bookcases lining the walls and tables in the center. "These are all the old newspapers going back about thirty years. Each shelf is a different month. Each case a different year. When you are done, close the door behind you. Be sure to let me now when you are leaving." The Libran said in a very business like manner. Having said what she needed to, she turned and left James alone in the room.

James didn't not even wait for the Libran to leave before moving to find the November shelf. Finding it, James began to look at the years on the spines of the books. When he saw the right one, he pulled the book of the shelf. The book was a lot longer then books usually are, and he had to shift its weight to not drop it. He carried the book over to one of the table and sat down. He didn't open it right away. He wasn't really sure if he wanted to. This would tell him what had happened to his son. His baby boy. Did he really want to know? He had to.

It did not take long at all to find the date he was looking for. November 3rd. He looked through the paper slowly, hoping to find something, anything. If he was expecting to find the information he was looking for in a small article, he was wrong. There was a whole page dedicated to one story. The headline was "Mysterious Fire concerns Townspeople" and underneath was a picture of his house. And next to that picture was a picture of Lily, Harry and himself. He tried not to look at the picture, it hurt too much. The article read:

"_The picture to the right is that of the late Mr. And Mrs. James and Lily Potter. A fire broke out in the young couple's house in the late hours of Halloween. A prank gone wrong, or is faulty wiring the cause of this devastating fire? Firemen are at a loss to the answers of these questions on everyone's mind. "As of yet we have been unable to find the cause to the fire. But rest assured, it is being looked into._" _As if the cause of the fire was not enough, there is a stranger still question. Why weren't their bodies burned? "Mr. and Mrs. Potter's bodies may not have been killed by the fire it's self. Smoke inhalation is more then likely what killed them." The town doctor stated. Whether this is true or not, we will never know as the families of the deceased, would not permit an utopist to be performed. If this story were not devastating as it were, there is yet another heart aching fact. The Potter's one year old son's remains were not uncovered from the scene, leading to the only explanation that he was taken by the fire."_

He couldn't breath. They never found Harry's body. What could that monster have done to his son to not even leave his body? Thought raced through James mind as the realization of just what Voldemort could do to his son filled him. Leaning over, James vomited onto the floor, unable to stop himself. He was shaking like mad. His wife, gone. His son, gone. He had nothing else. No one else. But no. That was completely true.

And then, something clicked into James' mind. "_Maybe after I kill your wife and son you will think differently. Yet, they are not all that you fight for are they?_ _Or should I say all who you fight for. No, no I think it will be better to see after I have killed them all. Down to the ever last mudblood loving fool." _Voldemort. James was nearly sick again as he realized what had happened. Some how, Voldemort made everyone think that he was dead. Then he killed Lily and did god only knows what to his baby boy. Without Harry, the wizarding world had no hope. There was no one to stop him. His mind flashed to the Godric's Hollow, and how the town had changed. Voldemort must have gotten through to the muggle world at last. Then something else flashed into his mind. Sirius and Remus. Surly they would be dead by now. Going by how long that old man said the mausoleum hadn't been opened, he had been "dead" for fourteen years. He could not imagine Sirius not doing something rash that could lead to him getting killed in the space of fourteen years. And the fact that no one remand to stop him made the thought that he was dead even stronger. And Remus, oh god, if they attacked him knowing he was a werewolf, it would be by no means hard to kill him. More and more people came to James head, and he could not think of a way anyone of them could have lived fourteen years into the war.

Something else seemed to click in his mind as well. It had been lingering in the back of his mind, but it was dismissed, as other things were more important. He had wondered why an Auror had come for something so minor as magic use in a muggle area? They had probably thought that there was an attack or something of the sort going on.

He couldn't take it anymore he had to get out of here. As he rose from his chair he thought, where the hell am I going to go? But his feet were already caring him out the door. He walked to the front of the library, walked pasted the Libran and headed back out into the rain. He was nearly soaked from walk to the library, so he didn't mind all that he was now completely soaked as he head toward his destination. He never even made this his destination; his feet just started carrying him to it. He just knew that he needed to see it.

When she arrived there, she immediately took in the place. Paige had not been in here since James and Lily's funeral. Which, in its self brought back some painful memories. Pushing the thoughts aside, she began to make her way toward a tomb that had been busted open. Reaching the tomb, Paige felt a very strong wave of anger flush through her. It was James' tomb. She couldn't bring herself to look inside. Walking toward the entrance, Paige saw cracks on the wall, and small amounts of what looked like blood. More anger was making its way to the surface. Who ever the hell was behind this was really making her pissed. After taking one final look around the mausoleum she made her way toward the main building, where she felt confident the other Aurors would be.

"Then we told him to drop his wand, but he didn't. So we said it again, and he started firing spells at us. When he came to, he was gone. And he had stunned that kid too." Paige heard someone say as she walked through the doorway, which was currently door less. Looking around she saw four Aurors. Three looking like their mother was scolding them, and the fourth looking way to smug with himself. Paige knew who all of them were. The three were Mahoney, Grisham and Higgins. Newbies really. Well to her, anyone who wasn't part of the first war was a newbie. But these three only started a year ago. And then there was Scrimgeour, the scolding mother herself. It took a lot of self-control not to groan at the sight of him. Him, she really, really hated.

"Mind replaying this story one more time for me?" Paige asked walking up to them. All four heads snapped to her.

"I am heading this investigation Summers. You are not needed here." Scrimgeour said curtly.

"Mahoney, Grisham, Higgins," Paige said, ignoring Scrimgeour. "What happened?" She said in a clam voice. They were quick to answer. After hearing their story she asked where the boy and old man were.

"In the back room. We kept them here incase someone needed to talk to them," Mahoney said showing Paige a door to the left. Moving to go and ask the boy and man some questions, she was stopped by Scrimgeour.

"There is not need to question them," he said through grit teeth. "This was just a grave robbing. That's all." Slowly she turned to look at him.

"I find that I don't really care if it was a grave robbing or not. But who ever did this, has pissed me off. Now if there's nothing else…" And she side stepped him and continued toward the door Mahoney had pointed to. Opening it she saw a teenager sitting with an old man. Both visible shaken. When they heard her enter, they both turned to look at her.

"Can I please go home? We didn't do anything. We just wanna go home." The boy said standing up. Paige smiled slightly to clam them somewhat.

"You will be brought home very soon, I promise you. But first I need to ask you some questions. Alright?" Paige said in a clam soft voice. When they both had nodded she started her questions. "What were some of the things he was talking about?" was the first question.

"Well, he asked me how long it had been since the mausoleum I found him, had been opened. He asked if any tombs had been taken out." The old man replied.

"He asked me to find a file on the Potter family. There it is. Right there. He dropped it." The boy said pointing to a file that lay on the floor. Paige turned and picked it up and started looking through it. "He went to the back. About the last page I'd say. Then he just kinda stared at it. Then he asked me where someone could find information on their deaths. I guessed he was talking bout them Potters. So I said in old town newspapers. And then those other guys came in, and I heard lots of noise and then he comes out sees he and he says, he says "thanks kid" and he pointed that stick thing he had at me and I feel asleep or something." The boy finished. Paige was silent, she was thinking.

"All right. I just have one more question to ask. Could you please tell me what he looked like?" Paige asked them.

"Oh, he was tall,"

"He had black hair,"

"It was really messy hair too,"

"He seemed to have a mussel kinda build,"

"And he had hazel eyes and wore glasses." They told her. After hearing their description, Paige just stood there for a moment. When she spoke again, she had to work to keep her voice clam.

"Thank you for every thing gentlemen. The men outside will bring you home shortly." She said. And then she turned and walked out of the room. The four others were still there, talking quietly. Walking over to them she said,

"Mahoney, Grisham and Higgins, place a memory charm on those two in there and take them home," at her words the three of them hurried into the room. "Scrimgeour," Paige said slowly turning to face him. "Tell me, if this was "just a grave robbing" then why did those two men just describe my old partner?" The anger in her voice was very, very clear.


	7. Seeing and Meeting

Rubble, that's all it was. This wreckage could never have once been his home. The flowers that Lily had planted the very day they moved in were nowhere to be seen. She had said that the flowers would always be there, no matter what the season, thanks to a handy little charm she had found. And where the green grass Lily had made James water and mow should have been, was brown grass and dirt. The, _thing, _which stood in the spot of his house was just a burned shell of a house. There was no glass in the windows, and if there was, it was broken from things being thrown through it. From the outside you could tell that the inside was deserted, empty and disgusting. Just like the outside. No, this defiantly could not be his home.

How long James just stood in front of the wreckage, he didn't know. He was now completely soaked from the rain. But he didn't even notice. All his thoughts were on what was in front of him. If he still had his doubts was to what had happened to Harry, the sight before him would clear away all of them. It amazed him that the thing was still standing. Then, just like when he had left the library, his feet started to carry him. This time, they led him into the house. He had to see the inside for himself.

_CRASH!_

"Oh bloody hell." Tonks said dully before her great aunts shrieks filled number 12. Looking at her legs, it was no shock to her to see them tangled in that damn umbrella stand. What was the reason for it being there? It wasn't like anybody used the damn thing. Why hadn't Sirius chucked the bloody thing?

"_FLITH! DISGRACE OF MY BLOOD! LEAVE THIS PLACE! FREAK! BE GONE! AND YOU! BLOOD TRAITOR! LEAVE FROM MY HOUSE!"_ Mrs. Black shrieked as her usual self, adding the last insult at the sight of Sirius.

"Tonks, must you announce your arrival every single time you enter this house?" Sirius yell above his mothers insults, dashing over to close her curtain. After pulling them shut and stopping his mother remind him that he was a traitor, he turned to look at his second cousin. She looked up at him from her place on the floor.

"Oh no Sirius. Please don't assist me off the floor, I can do it by myself." Tonks said sarcastically. Sirius just smiled down at her and held out his hand to her. Grabbing it, Tonks heaved herself to her feet. Once up and standing straight, she held up a brown bag she had been holding and returned Sirius smile. "Brought some lunch over." She said.

"Good. I was getting hungry," Sirius said and started to lead the way down to the kitchen. "What is it?" He asked as they reached the kitchen.

"Chinese." Tonks said simply and placed the bag on the table, took off her cloak and sat down in one of the chairs. Sirius moved to the cabinet to get plates and utensils for them.

"Butterbeer?" Sirius asked opening the refrigerator after setting plates, forks and spoons on the table. When Tonks nodded her head (which was currently surrounded by lime green hair) he grabbed two butterbeers from inside, closed the refrigerator door and joined her at the table. They sat in silence while they got the food they wanted and began eating. "I thought it was Kingsley turn today?" Sirius said suddenly.

"What?" Tonks asked in surprise, some rice falling off her spoon as she brought it to her mouth. It was pretty clear that she wasn't really listening to him, as she was waging a war against her food.

"I said that I thought it was Kingsley's turn to baby-sit me today," He said, taking another bit of his own food. Tonks looked up at him when she had finally got her food into her mouth and stared at him.

"Wat ou ean? Aby it ou? She said with a mouth full of rice. Sirius some how understood what she had said.

"Please don't insult me Tonks. I know the little routine you guys have. You lot take turns on who will come and make sure I haven't run off anywhere," Sirius said not trying to disguise the anger that was laced into his voice.

"No we take turns on who will eat lunch with you. Not to keep an eye on you. We do it one: because we know how much it must suck to be stuck here. And two: we all can't come on the same day or anything cause that would look odd," Tonks said once she had swallowed her food. Sirius remand silent. Tonks looked at him while she took a swig of her butterbeer, trying to decide if she should tell him about what was happening at work. As she watched him she knew that he would be just as pissed as Summers had been. Probably even more so. She wouldn't say anything thing to him about it till they knew what was going on for sure. As of now, all they knew was that someone had done magic in the Potter Family mausoleum, broke open James Potters tomb, stunned three Aurors, and did this all while looking like James Potter himself according to Scrimgeour. Yea, probable would be best not to say anything about it to Sirius.

"You didn't answer my question though," Sirius said in between bites, looking down at his plate still.

"Huh?" Tonks said, she had been thinking about why she shouldn't say anything about work to Sirius when in interrupted her thoughts.

"We're really out of it today aren't we Tonks?" Sirius said with a laugh. "I said, that you didn't answer me about why you're here and Kingsley's not."

"He got hung up at work," Tonks said not meeting Sirius' eyes. She wasn't lying to him, she was just not telling the whole truth. Kingsley was _at_ work. But he wasn't doing real Auror work. He was trying to clam Scrimgeour down after Summers pulled rank on him. Again.

"Tonks," Sirius said slowly, knowing that there was more to the story then she was letting on.

"He's claming Scrimgeour down." Tonks said simply. There. That was the truth; she could look at him when she said that. But, she had forgot that Scrimgeour had been talked about at meetings lately as he was still asking funny questions. At the mention of Scrimgeour name, Sirius sat up right.

"Why? What happened?" he asked quickly looking intently at her.

"Oh, nothing. Really it was nothing," Tonks said looking back down at her plate. She could feel Sirius' eyes still on her.

"Nymphadora…" Sirius started. Tonks visible flinched at the name.

"Don't bloody call me that," she said through grit teeth. "He's clam him down cause someone pulled rank on him and took a case away from him all in one sweep."

"What case and who?" Sirius asked, taking a bite of his food again.

"God, what the hell is with the questions today?" Tonks asked going back to her food. Hoping that Sirius would just stop. But she had more of a shot of Snape asking her out on a date then that happening. She nearly gagged at the thoughts she had just put into her own head.

"Gee, I don't know Tonks. Why don't you want to answer my questions?" Sirius asked her right back. This was defiantly sparking his interest. What could be going on that Tonks didn't want to tell him about? Tonks looked at Sirius for a moment before answering him.

"I hope you know that telling you this is going against my guts. And I really, really shouldn't be telling you this. You have to swear though, that if you react badly, I can stun you to keep you from leaving. Alright?" Tonks said to him looking very serious. Now Sirius interest was completely peaked.

"Alright," Sirius said. What could she be about to tell me that I would flip out about? If it was anything important, like anything Harry related or Order related she wouldn't have beat around the bush, she would have told him up front.

"Ok. Well first I guess I should tell ya bout these damn knew things that theAurors got. When an Auror moves up to fieldwork, they get a Stun Detecting Spell placed on them. They way it works is that when the Auror gets stunned, their wand blinks a little white light, and headquarters is alerted that there's and Auror down. Get it? Well these things are really bloody annoying when they go off in headquarters. And they've gone off four times today." Tonks said eating some food in-between sentences.

"So that means that Aurors are being stunned?" Sirius said in somewhat shock.

"Yea. Well the whole thing started with the git of an Auror being down in Magical Law Enforcement flirting with one of the bimbos down there. They get a call of magic use in a muggle area, nothing new or big. Well the git, trying to look suave says he'll take care of it. Only problem's that he gets himself stunned. So two others are sent to go and fetch him. No one really thought much about it. Everyone thought that he must have been mistaken for someone from MLE and someone stunned him to get out of a getting fine." Tonks paused to take a sip of her butterbeer.

"So the other Aurorsgo, and that bloody alarm shuts up. But then threealarms come on. It was so annoying. But it meant that now all three of them had been stunned. Scrimgeour declared it a case and went off to sort things out. But, er, another Auror after hearing what had happened wanted to take over, and she left and took over. So that's it. Scrimgeour's pissed cause, well lets just say this isn't the first time that this Auror has done this to him." Tonks ended with a little laugh.

"Who's this Auror?" Sirius asked returning to his food. Why did Tonks not want to tell him this? It wasn't anything important or anything. "They must have a lot of weight to be able to push Scrimgeour around."

"Oh, well she does," Tonks said, also returning to her food.

"Well who she?" Sirius asked again

"Summers," Tonks said in a voice that sound as if her answer was really a question. And in a way it was. She was asking herself why the hell did she just tell him that? She had of course heard about the relationship they had had. At Tonks answer Sirius' fork froze, half way to his mouth. He snapped his head up to look at her.

"Paige Summers?" He asked.

"Yea," Tonks said not looking at Sirius. But Sirius wasn't looking at Tonks. He was staring at the wall just behind Tonks' head. Thoughts racing.

"What was it about this case that made her want it?" Sirius asked Tonks sharply. He knew Paige well enough to know that she would never do boring work like collecting newbies if she could help it.

"Well," Tonks said slowly, trying to feel through her robes for her wand incase she need to stop Sirius. "She kinda had a connection to the case."

"What kind of connection? And stop beating around the damn bush Tonks and just tell me." He said in a commanding voice.

"The magic was done in the… It was done in the Potter mausoleum and the people that saw the guy described someone that looked like James Potter. And well she was pissed. So she took over." Tonks said watch Sirius for any tall-tale signs that he was going to go and help Summers in her search for the guy that was behind this. She knew that she had left out put the part about James' tomb being blown open. She also left out, the even scarier part, that his body wasn't in the tomb.

Sirius hadn't said anything. He was trying to take in what Tonks had just told him but was having a hard time in doing so. Someone used magic in James' family mausoleum. Someone had stunned three Aurors and that same someone was walking around looking like James. Those facts kept running around his in mind. Making thinking properly a hard thing to do.

"We have to alert Dumbledore of this," Sirius said finally.

It was perfectly clear why the muggles had thought it was a fire that had done this to the house. The house fit the picture just right. Standing just inside the house James looked around him. To his right was the dinning room, where Harry had his first birthday cake in. At his right was his living room. Where he had failed. It was the room where Voldemort had beaten him and James let him walk upstairs and kill those most important to him. Walking into it, James looked around. The pictures that had hung on the walls weren't there anymore. And if they were, they were burn so badly that the picture its self could not be made out. The books on the overfilled bookshelf were all black. Seeing them, James felt a pang as he thought of how mad Lily would be to see her precious books dirty. Moving across the living room, careful of where he stepped, as in some spots the floor would surely give way, James made his way to the hallway where the stairs where. If he had thought the floor in the living room looked ready to give way, it was nothing compared to the stairs. There were already holes in some of the steps. He had to go up though. He had to see upstairs.

Ever carefully, James started up the stairs slowly. Tensing when one would creak underneath him. But he made it up. To his right was the way to his and Lily's bedroom. To the left was the guestroom… And Harry's room. He didn't know how he knew, but he knew that very thing had happened in Harry's room. Walking to Harry's room still careful of the floor, James felt the pain he had been feeling in his heart since seeing Lily's tomb, intensify. When he had reached Harry's room he saw that the door wasn't even there. It had been blown off the hinges. Even from outside the room, James could see that some big had happened in it. It seemed as though a bomb had gone off in his son's room. Taking a step inside, his feeling of a bomb going off increased. The walls had the markings one would expect to see from a bomb or even a large firing. Scorched. And the center of the blast seemed to come from… Oh god. It seemed to come from the place where Harry's crib had once laid. James couldn't breath. _'Oh god. Oh my baby. No this…Oh god. Not this way'_ He had to put a hand on the wall to keep himself from falling on the floor. The pain he had felt in the mausoleum came back in full force, and them some.

Along with the pain though, came the anger. Thou this time, none of it was toward Lily. All of it was toward Voldemort. The pain and the anger were physically hurting him. If he very saw Voldemort again, or anyone of his death eaters… James suddenly punched the wall he had been using to stand. He needed to get some of the anger out. But now his hand was stuck in the wall. Taking a step closer, James used his other hand to pull the trapped one free. When he got it out, he saw that his knuckles were bleeding. And he found that he didn't care in the slightest.

Seeing what he needed to see, James walked out of the room. Not caring about the floor anymore, he walked out of the room and down the stairs and out the of the house. He was so consumed by anger that he couldn't bring himself to care about anything. Let alone keeping himself safe from things like falling through the floor. He was so blinded by his anger and pain that he didn't see the women standing 20 feet in front of him, in the still pouring rain, with her wand on him.

"Who the fuck are you?" She said in a dangerous voice. Looking up at her, James stopped. She looked like Paige Summers. An older Paige, but it was Paige no less. But then, he realized that there was no way, with Paige being the way she was, that she would have lived this long. She was a kick ass Auror and a very powerful witch, but she was so much like him. A big risk taker and not to big on thinking her actions through. This could not be her; she would have died a long time ago. The women standing in front of him had to be a death eater.

"Answer me!" she yelled at him when he still hadn't answered her. James didn't answer her. He just pulled out his wand quickly and started firing curses at her. But she was ready for it and she sent spells as well. Their first spells hit each other and went souring in other directions. But those spells were barely out of they way when the next ones had been fired. Much to both duelers annoyance, the other was matching them, spell for spell. Spells were getting in on both sides, true, but the numbers was small. A Slashing Hex had hit James across the chest, but he fired one right back and Paige caught some of it with her shielding charm, but the rest got through and cut her across her cheek.

The battle wagged on, both getting slightly hurt, but both to engrossed in the battle to really notice any injuries. Both were also completely and total pissed now. James wanted nothing more then to snap this death eater in half. The anger felt in the house making him perform even better then his usual leave. If punching the wall, got some of his anger out then hurt this death eater immensely help his pain.

Paige was pissed because she wanted nothing more then to snap the death eater in front of her in half for having the balls to pose as her old partner. Also she was pissed at the fact that she hadn't done so already. There were very few people that had ever been able to match her like this. Sure there had been those that could completely kick her ass (and had) and those who's ass she could kick. But few who could match her. One was Moody (and she would matching him), some select death eaters, Sirius, and James. And it could be none of them. Moody was getting old and she felt that she might be able to take him know (it had been a long time since they dueled each other), this guy couldn't be one of those death eaters cause those death eaters were in Azkaban or had a completely different dueling form. And as for Sirius, well he had a different form as well and he wouldn't be posing as James, and James well…

Finally, after count less spells being fired, one of Paige's got through, sending James flying back. Before he had even hit the ground, she fired a stunning spell. He hit the ground, and stayed there. Breathing heavily, Paige stood there for a moment, to make sure that he was indeed stunned and wasn't faking it. Once sure that he was really stunned, she walked over to him, wand trained on him the whole time. Could never been too careful. Especially with a death eater that could keep up with her like this one had. Reaching him, Paige kicked him to roll him over. Her breath caught in her throat. She couldn't really see him clearly through the rain, but now, standing above him… It was James. It was just like looking at James. And god it pissed her off to see him. _'This bastered must have big fucking balls'_ she thought as she looked at him. She stood there, standing above the man laying on the ground, for a few minutes. She wanted to know who he was. Badly. And if she brought him in, they would take him away from her. And she wouldn't be able to question him. Oh and how much she wanted to question him. Deciding what she was going to do, she pulled out a quill from within her robes, pointed her wand at it and said,

"_Portus_." And watch the quill glow for a moment before going back to normal. Bending down next to the man, she picked his hand and held it in hers so that he touched the quill. Making sure that both of them were touching the quill, she lifted her wand, which was in her free hand, and pointed it at the quill.

"One, two, three." She said, and felt the familiar jerk from behind her navel. When the portkey stopped she looked around her. She had been her only once before, and it was at the very begging of the summer. She was a little off on her destination. She had placed them in the middle of the road. Thankfully, it was getting later and rain clouds were heavy and black in the sky, making it darker then it usually was at this time. Standing up she pointed her wand at the man next to her so that he was float, and then she started across the rest of the street and into the very unkempt yard of the very unkempt house in front of her.

When she had reached the door, she rang the bell and then turned, took off her cloak, and placed it over the man's face. She wasn't really sure who would open the door, but she had a feeling who would. And that person was likely to have a heart attack if they saw this man. After waiting a little bit the door opened.

"How many times do I have to tell you people not to ring the door bell?" A low growling voice said annoyed as the door opened. "Well hurry up and get in." Added the voice when the Paige just stood outside. She knew whom the voice belonged to without seeing the person who had spoken.

"This would be my first time hearing it," Paige said flatly, finally stepping inside; bring the man floating in with her. Once both in and when the door and been shut, she turned to look at Sirius and said, "We have a slight situation on our hands. Got any veritaserum?"

A.N-Well? Please let me know. I had a kinda hard time with this one. I would have updated last night but I had a concert for my school. And I'm sorry if its kinda hard to follow, I'm having a hard time getting that line thingy to work.Now, to tell you guys the truth, while I LOVE! all the people that have viewed for me, I'm still a little nervous. So if you would just review for me, just a "i'm reading this" if you don't lik writing big things, it would make me soooooo happy. Please! Please! Please! Thanks guys


	8. Needing Veritaserum

For a few moments, Sirius' mind was completely blank. No thoughts of anything penetrated his mind as he just stood there staring at Paige. Then, things seemed to click and several facts became very evident to him. One was that Paige was standing in front of him. Looking just the same as she had fourteen years ago, just a bit older. Still standing at about 5' 2'', still the same brown hair (which was tied back) and the same blue eyes. The second thing he realized was that she was hurt, the third was that last seen by anyone, she had been going after the guy that had been in the Potter Family mausoleum, and the fourth was that she had a man, assumedly stunned, floating in the air next to her. And then, of course, the fact that he had been just standing therein front of her for about a minute without saying or doing anything. Snapping out of it fully Sirius said,

"What happened? Is this the guy that broke into the mausoleum?" Paige looked a little shocked about what he had said.

"How did you know," she started but Sirius interrupted her.

"Follow me. We'll go into the kitchen and you can tell me about it." He said walking past her and leading her down the hallway. Paige followed him bring the floating man with her. Looking back every few steppes to make sure that his face was still covered.

"How did you know that someone had broken into the mausoleum?" Paige asked him once they had reached the kitchen. She directed the floating man away from her, toward the sink and she headed to stand by the table. Being close to him made her mad.

"Tonks." He said simply turning his attention to the man whose face was covered. "Is that the guy?" He asked staring at him, wondering why she had covered his face.

"Yea that's him," Paige said looking at the man as well. "So now to my question I had before. Got any veritaserum?"

"No. Snape," Sirius spat his name out, "doesn't like to leave his precious potions here."

"Well we need some cause I wanna find out who the hell this guy is." She said while absent mindedly, gingerly touching her shoulder, where blood had started to seep through her gray tee shirt (which was now dark gray from the rain). Sirius took more notice to her injuries, the one on her shoulder, the one across her right cheek and her left eye that was slowly turning black and blue.

"Your hurt," he said plainly. "This guy do that to you?" He asked looking between the two of them.

"Yes." She said testily. "Even more the reason I wanna know who he is."

"Why did you bring him here? Why not take him to the ministry? They would have veritaserum. And, better yet, how did you get here? This house has so many bloody charms on it," Sirius said looking at her. But she would not return his gaze. She was either looking at the floating man, or inspecting her wounds and surroundings, anything really, but him.

"Yes the ministry would have veritaserum. But it would take time and forms to get it, and they would never let me question him. "It's not your case any more Summers. Now fill out these stacks of forms." Bullocks the whole thing if you ask me. And I came here because, I figured that as the orders headquarters it would be safe. And I was able to come here cause Dumbledore told me about it and took me here in the beginning of the summer. I don't even think that you had even moved in yet." Paige said.

"So you are in the order then? Dumbledore never said," Sirius said still watching her intently.

"Yes and no. As I'm sure your aware of, I've not been to one meeting. But I'm reporting to Dumbledore. For now, I'm acting as unaware eyes. What I'm doing is just looking around for anything that looks off. Like, Tonks did you say? Well if I see Tonks acting suspicious or something of that like, I'll say something to Dumbledore, and if she's in the order he can say to her "look there are some people who can see that something odd is going on"." Paige said, still looking anywhere but at Sirius. "If I know the orders happenings, I'll look for certain things. Or I'll dismiss something that I know isn't involved in whatever we're doing. Unaware eyes see what the enemy is seeing. Get it?"

It made sense. Have someone that wont report you, looking for any holes or problems so that they can be fixed. Sirius opened his mouth to say something, but Paige cut him off.

"It's been about an hour now. Lets see what he really looks like." She said checking her watch, and walking over to the floating man. With a tug, she pulled her cloak off his head. The head that, when reviled, still looked like James Potter. Such silence filled the kitchen that it seemed as though neither of the occupants were breathing. Both were staring at the man that was floating in the air in front of them. Finally Paige broke the silence. "An hours past since I first saw him. I watched him while he was in their house and he didn't drink anything. And he obviously didn't have anything while we were dueling. He should have changed back." She said, unable to keep some of her worry from lacing in with her words. Sirius just stared at the face of his best friend.

"There are other ways he could have made himself look like James. There's gotta be other ways." Paige said, though it seemed she was talking more to herself then to Sirius. And still, all Sirius could do was stare. He had so many mixed feelings. He was mostly torn between crying at the sight of James, and wanting to ripe the imposter into little tiny pieces. Paige was saying something, but he couldn't make out her words. He seemed to be in another world. And then, the imposter's eyelids flickered slightly, and Sirius came smashing back down to reality.

"You have to go to Hogwarts and get a vial of veritaserum from Snape." Sirius said in such a calm voice that it shocked Paige slightly. He also found himself a little shocked at his tone of voice. How could he be so calm when his best friend was right there in front of him? But yet, wasn't really there. "But make sure that you don't let anything on. I'm sure that Umbridge would just love a reason to make your life miserable." Sirius added in that same calm voice that was somehow unnerving to Paige. Once he saw that Paige hadn't moved, Sirius said, "Don't worry. I wont kill him or anything while your gone."

"Or anything?" Paige repeated knowing full and well the many other things Sirius could do instead of killing him. And until she knew very thing about the imposter, she didn't want any of those other things happening.

"Or anything." Sirius said again, eyes never once leaving James' face.

"I'll be back as soon as possible." She said. And then she grabbed her cloak from its place on the floor and headed out the door. Once Sirius heard the door close behind her, he pulled out his wand and pointed it at "James", and directed him into one of the chairs that had been pulled out earlier in the day. After getting the imposter in the seat, Sirius conjured up ropes to tie the man to the chair. He conjured lots of ropes. And then after them, he conjured chains to go around his writs and feet.

When he was satisfied he pulled out a chair for himself across from the imposter, sat down and, wand still on the man, said,

"Go on then. Open your eyes." He said in a low, dangerous voice. And the imposter eyes snapped open. And for the first time in fourteen years, Sirius looked into the eyes of his best friend, James Potter.

* * *

The Great Hall was how it always was during dinner. Filled with students and the noise of said students. Conversations were of the normal sort, and the food was just as delicious as it was everyday. Harry still couldn't shake the thoughts of his dream and his father from his mind, but was trying to push them aside long enough to have a normal conversation with Ron and Hermione. But the normalcy of dinner went flying out the window when a woman walked through the doors.

She was wet from head to toe, but it wasn't raining outside. And she was hurt. She had a long cut across one check and the opposite eye was black and blue. Once a few feet inside the hall, she did the odd thing of removing her cloak and throwing it to the side. With her cloak off, blood could be seen seeping through her shirt on her shoulder. But she didn't seem to care as she just walked up calm as could be up to the staff table. Nor apparently was she aware that she had the attention of the whole hall. When she had past where Harry, Ron and Hermione where sitting, she lifted the back of her shirt to stick her wand in the back of her pants. While her shirt was lifted up, they could see that she had a tattoo on her back of a blue and purple Phoenix. Looking up at the staff table Harry saw that all the teachers were watching her.

Dumbledore stood up slowly as the woman neared the table. When she had reached him she held out her hand and shook Dumbledore's. They had a few word with each other before surprisingly enough Snape rose as well. But he started to walk around the head table as though he were leaving. Harry saw, as he watched, that Umbridge was trying to get the woman's attention. The woman either didn't notice, or didn't care because she paid no mind to her.

When Snape had reached the other side of the table, both Snape and the woman started back out of the Great Hall. Umbridge was not having it though. Snape and the woman had reached where Harry, Ron and Hermione were sitting when Umbridge had made her on way around the table. And she called out to them.

"Excuse me Miss Summers. I was unaware of any cases that would require you to come up to Hogwarts. Would you mind just stepping into my office where you may explain yourself to me?" Umbridge asked in her simper of a voice. The woman, Summers, had visibly tensed at the sound of her voice, and Harry could see her hands balling and un-balling into fits. Slowly Summers turned to look at her.

"I am not in uniform. You or anyone from the ministry has no say what I do in my spare time. Or where I chose to go." Summers said coolly. "I need some healing potions, and at St Mongos, they would have me sitting in a waiting room for hours. Getting them from Severus is easer." With that said she turned to leave. But Umbridge spoke to her yet again.

"Why not go to the hospital wing? I'm sure they will have healing potions for you." She said in a voice full of fake sweetness. Summers turned around to face Umbridge again. From Harry's seat, he could see that she was less then pleased to be questioned by Umbridge like this. But, before she could reply to Umbridge, Dumbledore spoke,

"I'm sure that I don't see the problem in Miss Summers receiving a few minor potions from an old friend Dolores. And, Miss Summers had my full invitation to be inside Hogwarts, while off duty of course." He said calmly, the twinkle in his eye set in place. At Dumbledore's words, Summers continued her way out of the Great Hall, Snape following her. Before she left the Great Hall, Summers pulled her wand back out, pointed it to where her cloak had been thrown when she came back in, and Summoned it to her and then left. The hall was silent for a few brief minutes before talk broke out across the hall.

"Shame," Ron said when they turned back to each other. "That Summers woman looked like she was ready to hex Umbridge off the face of the earth. I was hoping she would. Make life a lot easier for us." Harry and Hermione both laughed at this.

"I wonder what happened to her though." Hermione said when they all started going back to their food. "And if her injuries were anything," she paused here and looked around them before finishing "Order related." She said in a low voice.

"Well she's never been to Grimmauld Place. We've never seen her before, or even heard of her." Ron said.

"If she isn't, then it's a big coincidence that she just so happens to have a tattoo of a phoenix on her back," Harry said thinking of the tattoo he had seen. "And, also if she's not, we should wonder what the hell is she doing with the likes of Snape. Dumbledore called them old friends." He added.

"You didn't see their faces when he said that though?" Hermione asked him. "For about a second, both of their faces looked like they didn't like being called friends. But like I said it was for a second. Dumbledore might have just said that so Umbridge would let them leave."

Harry looked back up at the head table. Dumbledore sat eating his dinner as though there had been no interruption within the Hall. Umbridge however, was shooting looks at Dumbledore every few minutes. This Summers is an Auror, and if she is in fact an order member, something big must have happened for her to come to Hogwarts and talk to Dumbledore in front of a high up ministry official. She could get into a lot of trouble. Seeing her injuries only added on Harry's thoughts that something big had happened, or something big was happening.

* * *

"What happened to you?" Snape said to Paige as soon as they had reached his office. They had walked in silence all the way down to his office, knowing that a student, or Umbridge herself, might have followed.

"Cliff-notes version, someone did magic in the Potter family mausoleum, stunned three Aurors, and pissed me off. I went after them, and they did this to me. Got them in the end though. But, I want to find out who the hell he is. Oh and he looks just like James Potter." Paige said, moving to sit in one of the chairs in front of his desk.

"What?" Snape asked sharply.

"Yea. Oh wait, it gets better. I had him for over an hour, and he didn't have anything to drink, meaning no Polyjuice has been taken recently, and he hasn't changed back yet." She said looking around Snape's office. "So I need some veritaserum, to question him."

Snape immediately moved over to one of the shelves full of disgusting potions and potion ingredients and started to look for the veritaserum. Looking at some of the things that Snape kept in the jars, Paige found some that weren't potions or any kind of ingredient she had heard of.

"Let me guess. Bout maybe half these jars don't even have real potions and ingredients in them. There just there to scare little kiddies, aren't they?" She asked with a small smirk on her face. Snape didn't answer her, he just turned around and handed her a small vial containing a clear liquid.

"Remember, three drops," He said watching as she placed the vial under her shirt. Inside her bra no doubt. "You should probable take some healing potions with you." He added when Paige had risen to leave.

"Nah, Umbridge will leave me alone." Paige said, adjusting herself as she said it, confirming Snape's thought of her putting the veritaserum in her bra for safe keeping.

"Not just for show." Snape said. "If you don't tend to those injuries,"

"I'll be fine. I can patch myself up." She said cutting him off. They had a weird relationship, if you could call it that. It was mostly just respect of one another. And the respect just went far enough where they could be in the same room and talk and act civilly toward one another.

"Where did you leave this imposter?" Snape asked as Paige put her cloak on.

"At a safe place." She said. Knowing that Snape would understand.

"Hurry back then. Black," he spat out his name, "could be killing him this very moment." Paige didn't even bother answer him that. Instead she just said,

"Thanks. Be seeing you around." And left. She could help herself from quicken her pace slightly while thinking over what Snape had said. _"_ _Black could be killing him this very moment."_

* * *

A.N- I'm sorry if this ended up being a chiff hanger. I really didn't mean it to be. I just need the questioning to be its own thing. There are something that I'm not to sure if there clear or not, chapters 1 and 2 take place on Halloween and everything since has been on Nov. 1st. I wasn't sure if that was clear or not.

I'm sorry for the last chapter being sloppy, I was rushing to get it up. I needed to study for a math test and didn't take enought time to read through it a few times. I would really like to thank everyone who reivew. It really, really made me smile. You guys have no idea. I was having a not so hot day at school and I came home and lots of reviews waiting for me. It was soooo nice. It would be really great to get that many again. Hint. Hint. Well, let me know what you guys thought about this one.


	9. Under Veritaserum

For a few moments, both men just stared at each other. Taking in the one sitting in front of them. Sirius, taking in the face that he had not seen for such a long time. Yet, it looked exactly the same has it had last time seen. Not a day older then twenty. And James, taking in a face that had changed so much from when he had last saw it. The eyes had under gone the biggest change. Then, both men seemed to reach the same conclusion in each of their minds. The man sitting in front of him was not his best friend. He was an imposter.

"How did you know that the spell had worn off?" James asked coolly.

"Your eyelids flickered." Sirius answered in a voice just as cool as James'. James just nodded at Sirius response. Neither eyes ever leaving the others face. Looks of loathing were settling into both of their stares.

"Who are you?" Sirius asked finally, breaking the silence that had filled the kitchen. James snorted at Sirius' question.

"You're a dumb one aren't you?" James taunted. "How thick could you be to not know who I am? No, the question is who are you?" Sirius' eyes flashed dangerously.

"Need I remind you that you are hardly in the position to be asking questions?" Sirius growled at him, making a small point of making sure that James saw that he had a wand pointing at him.

"Oh yes. I should fear you cause you have a wand pointed at me. Tell me, if I should be scared of you, why'd you send the witch to fetch me?" James taunted again. He didn't care if any of his tactics got him tortured. He really couldn't bring himself to care about anything. Everyone he cared about was dead. And these fucking death eaters were trying to pose as them. As for their reason why they were posing as them, he wasn't sure yet.

"I did not send her. She went after you on her on accord. And, as I knew that she would have no problem in bring you in, I let her have some fun." Sirius said. "Now, answer my question. Who are you?"

"Why don't you recognize me? I'm the queen of bloody England!" James said in a voice full of sarcasm. Sirius didn't say anything to James remark. Instead, in just pointed his wand at James arm, which was tied tightly to the chair's arm.

Sirius asked James again, "Who are you?" voice flat and even.

"How can you not know? I'm on the bloody top of the "To Kill" list." James said. With a small flick of the wrist, a cut appeared on James bare arm. "That's it? That's all your gonna do to me if I don't answer your questions? Give me a bloody paper cut?" James asked looking from the cut to Sirius, trying not to laugh at this death eaters methods of torture.

"I have a lot of questions. And you have a lot of skin. Well see how many of these, "paper cuts", it takes to completely remove the skin on your arm." Sirius said, calm as can be. "Now, who are you?" He asked for the third time. James still did not answer him, instead he just nodded his head.

"I gotta hand it to ya. This is a very inventive method torture." James said. "I'm sure it will be painful." Anyone who heard him speak would know that he had a death wish. And well, he did. But, he figure that it wouldn't be long before Voldemort showed up and killed him, so why not have some fun with this death eater. Besides, it would be fun to see that witch's reaction when she comes back to find his arm skin deprived.

When James didn't answer yet again, Sirius flicked his writs again, and another cut appeared on James arm.

"Alright. We'll come back to that question." Sirius said, still in a calm voice. "What were you doing in the Potter Family mausoleum?" Sirius asked. James just stared at him. At first he just thought this death eater was just stupid, as so many of them were, but now… These questions were just so dumb. Surly Voldemort would have told his plan to his death eaters. It would be major bragging points. But then, James remembered the spy. If Voldemort had bragged about it, the spy would have told Dumbledore, and they would have gotten him. No one knew that Voldemort hadn't killed him. Oh using this upper hand of information could be fun.

"Alright, alright. I'll tell you." James said. From the look on Sirius' face, he knew that the death eater was skeptical. Who wouldn't be? "My name is James Potter. And I've come back from the dead because I'm so fucking pissed at your "Dark Lord"." James said. Sirius just stared at him.

"What the hell do you mean "my Dark Lord"? Oh and for the crack about being James Potter," with a full slashing movement of his wand, a long gash appeared on James' arm, starting from his elbow and going all the way down to his wrist. Looking up at Sirius, James saw a look of pure loathing and hatred. James opened his mouth to say something to Sirius, but the kitchen door opened and the witch who was posing as Paige walked in.

She stopped and looked at the scene in front of her. Looking from James, bound, and bleeding in the chair, to Sirius with his wand on James, she gathered that Sirius wasn't not true to his word. But she said nothing. It was never good to should weakness between yourself and partner when questioning a death eater. Or anyone for that matter. Walking over to where they were seated she pulled a vial for under her shirt and uncorked in.

"Open your mouth." She said simply to James. When he didn't, she sighed and said "Sirius," And Sirius opened James mouth by magic. James remembered what had happened to him the last time he was a situation like this and struggled to close his mouth. But it was to no avail. All he could do was watch as she poured some of the liquid down his throat.

At once, James felt the effect of veritaserum over take him. During training, Moody had given all of them veritaserum so they would know what to expect. And just what they could tell while under it. It felt a lot like being put under the Imperious curse. All his worries were pushed to the back of his mind. The aches and pains from the cuts and his pervious wounds dimmed. The difference from the imperious and veritaserum, was that you still knew what was going on around you. But you had no control over anything. He saw Paige give a quick glance at Sirius before starting her questioning.

"Who are you?" She said calmly.

"James Harry Potter the Third." James said back in a voice void of emotion. Sirius and Paige were too shocked to find any words. Both just stared at the man who, under veritaserum, just said that he was James Potter. Neither knowing what to think.

"Sirius," Paige said weakly moving toward the door meaning for him to follow her.

"Yea," Sirius said rising and followed her to the door. They didn't leave, both knowing better then to leave him alone. They just didn't want him to hear their discussion.

"Sirius," Paige said in a hushed tone when he reached her. "I've heard a lot of shit from people under veritaserum, and that shit is always true." She said looking at James, who was gazing at them. "But it's not possible." She added. "People can_ not _come back from the dead."

"There is no need to remind me of that Paige. I'm am just as aware of that fact as you are." Sirius hissed at her. Out of everything that could have come from that man's mouth that was the last thing that he expected to hear.

"Then how the fuck do you explain that man's answer?" Paige said has loud as she could while still maintaining a hushed tone.

"I don't know!" Sirius said back in the loudest hushed tone he could. For a few moments they were both silent, trying it figure out what the hell was going on.

"Maybe," Paige started to say, but Sirius, knowing what she was going to say cut her off.

"No. You said yourself that it's not possible. I got it." Sirius said. "Voldemort might have brainwashed him into thinking he's James." Paige just looked at him.

"I don't think that Voldemort would do that. I mean what's the point?" She said looking at James who was still just watching them.

"What's the point? The point is that we would take him in with open arms and let him know all the orders happenings. And, let him be alone with Harry. Then, he'll show his true colors and go back to Voldemort with tons of information _and _my godson." Sirius said angrily. Paige still looked doubtful.

"Fine then. Ask him things that Voldemort wouldn't be able to drill into his head." She said. Sirius now looked at Paige angrily.

"Do you forget that one of our best friends from Hogwarts is a death eater? Everything I could ask the rat would have told Voldemort about." He said.

"Oh come on. You guys were the brothers of that group. There has to be something that was just between the two of you." Paige tried.

"Fine." Sirius said jerkily. And he turned and walked back to where James was sitting. Paige followed slowly behind him. Sirius retook his seat in front of James. Paige stayed standing just behind Sirius' chair.

"Where did you tell me you were thinking of hiding Lily's ring before you asked her to marry you?" He asked.

"Inside the snitch I used to play with all the time." James said emotionlessly. Sirius was not satisfied with that answer.

"James could have told Peter about it after he propose to Lily." Sirius said to Paige. Turning back to James he said, "Who came up with the idea for the Marauder's Map?" Sirius said.

"Fich gave me and Sirius the idea." James said. "He asked us if we had a map of the school or something and if that was how we were able to get around the school like we could."

Yet again, Sirius wasn't having that answer. He was about to ask another question when Paige leaned down and whispered,

"Ask him something that you know he wouldn't tell anyone already," into Sirius ear.

Sirius didn't say anything of a moment or two, and then he asked a question that he had a hard time getting out.

"What bothered me the most about Regulus' death?" He asked James. James blinked then answered in the still emotionless voice,

"It bothered you that you cared."

Breathing suddenly became hard for Sirius to do. Only James could know that answer. No one else could. He had never once said it out loud that he felt upset that Regulus had died. Or that he was pissed at himself because he cared for Regulus. But he knew that James knew. Because James was always able to tell with Sirius.

"I checked your pulse. I checked. And you were dead." Sirius said, voice completely opposite from James, full of emotion. "YOU WERE DEAD!" Sirius yelled.

"No I wasn't." James replied. "Voldemort never killed me. I don't know what he did to me. One minute, I'm in my house, lying on the floor, the next I'm in a tomb. My tomb." Sirius and Paige were both silent again.

"Why didn't Voldemort kill you?" Paige finally asked him.

"He said he wanted to see what my answer would be if he killed everyone that I cared about." James answered.

"Answer to what?" Paige asked again.

"To becoming a death eater." Things seemed to click in Paige's mind then.

"What happened to all your friends?" She asked. Sirius turned in his seat to look at her, wonder her reason for this question.

"There dead." He said simply.

"Are you sure?" Paige asked him.

"Yes. There is no way they would have lived for this long." He answered.

"Why do you think that?" Sirius asked James.

"Voldemort has been in power for the last fourteen years. He broke through to the muggle world. They all have to be dead. There is no way they could have lived."

"Stupefy." Paige said pointing her wand at James. James head fell onto his shoulders.

"Why did you stun him?" Sirius asked, staring at the stunned form of James. Paige didn't answer him.

"When I was looking for him, I tracked him going into a library, he was looking at old newspapers. Papers about what the muggles thought happened to him and Lily. And to Harry. And their old town, its just became run down, you know? Bad crowds just started moving in and it fell apart. Oh god, seeing the town like that and then reading that paper, he thinks that Voldemort is still in power. He must think that we're death eaters. That why he put up such a fight." Paige said. Sirius said nothing. He just continued to stare at James.

It couldn't be him. He had checked for a pulse when he found James body. He had held James dead body and cried. There had been no pulse. People can't come back from the dead. _Merlin himself_ could not bring people back from the dead. It was imposable. But yet here James was. And it had to be him. But yet it couldn't be him.

"…I guess the question now is how do we get him to believe that we're really us?" Paige had been speaking while Sirius was trying to sort through his thoughts. He only caught the end of what she was saying.

"So you believe that this is James then? Sirius asked her.

"What am I suppose to think Sirius? Please tell me. Cause it the only answer I can come up with." Paige said sounding slightly frantic.

"I don't know." Sirius said lamely. "We should get Dumbledore, or someone."

"Dumbledore wont be able to get out of the castle. Umbridge wont let him out from under her nose." Paige said, taking a seat next to Sirius. Sirius turned his chair so that he wasn't looking at James anymore, but so that he was looking at Paige.

"Well we should get Remus." He said.

"Yes we should. But not right now. I think it would be better if we got full control of the situation before bring more people, other then Dumbledore, in." She said, for the first time that night, voice sounding tired. Looking over at James she said, "I thought you said that you wouldn't do anything to him till I got back."

"I lied." Sirius said simply.

"We should patch him up. Might make him believe us if we heal him." She said.

"If you're being held captive by death eaters what are you going to think if they heal you?" Sirius asked her sounding annoyed.

"I would think that something was up," She sighed. "But still, we should heal him. He's got injuries from me, and then ones from you."

"Then we'll patch you up." Sirius said rising and moving over to James. He lightly taped the longest cut on James arm, and it started to heal. "In that cabinet over there are some healing potions. Can you get them for me?" He asked pointing to the other cut that he had made on James arm and started making it heal as well. Paige rose from her chair and opened the cabinet Sirius had directed her to, and took out some potion bottles.

"I thought you said Snape didn't leave potions here?" She asked while putting some of the potion on James hurt arm and rubbing it in.

"He doesn't. These are Molly's. A mother of seven can make just as good healing potions as any potions "master"." Sirius said. They continued to patch James up in silence till he was healed of all injuries.

"We should put him in a room to sleep in." Paige said looking at the circles under his eyes.

"And leave him alone?" Sirius asked.

"We can set up alarms, and one of us can sit with him." Paige said.

"Alright. We'll take him upstairs." Pointing his wand at James as Paige had done early, Sirius made James float in the air. Sirius led the way out of the kitchen. Paige looked around as they made their way upstairs. She really hated this house, and didn't envy Sirius in the slightest for have to stay here. They brought James to a room that was on the third floor. Paige moved over to the bed turned down the covers so that they could get James under them. Once they had got James into bed Paige cast a smallsleeping charm on him so that he would get some real sleep, and not just lay there in bed stunned.

"You just keep an eye on him for a little bit. I'll inform Dumbledore of what's going on." Sirius said in a low voice so not to wake James.

"How?" Paige asked Sirius in a hushed voice.

"My great-great-granduncle." Sirius said, and he left the room. Once Sirius had left, Paige looked around the room. In was a lot like the rest of the house. Gloomy and dark. She spotted a chair on the other side of the room and walked over to it. She had just reached it when someone grabbed her from behind.

They placed a hand over her mouth, pulled her arms together behind her back, and pulled her wand from the back of her pants where she kept it, all in one movement, and had her wand now jabbing into her throat. She must have put to small of a sleeping charm on him.

"Now," James' voice said from behind her. "Where did the one posing as Sirius go?" He asked. "How about we go find him?" And he started to direct her out of the room. Paige knew much better then to try and fight her way out of James hold. She knew that he could easily snap her neck. So she let him led her out of the room.

James knew he had to act quickly. It seemed that these two were the only death eaters here. For now at least. And he wanted a turn to ask his questions. When they had gotten out of the room, James looked to the left and right. There were on a small landing. To the left, stairs going up, the right, stairs going down.

"Left or right?" James asked Paige. Paige looked both ways, hoping that Sirius would come back from where ever the hell he went. Thinking that maybe he went back to the kitchen she jerked her head to the right, downstairs. James started to push her to the right. They had reached the second landing when they heard voices coming from within one of the rooms. James stopped and listened. So there was more then just the two in the house. He couldn't make out the words that were being said. "How many are in there?" James asked Paige. She just shook her head. Showing that she didn't know. Not caring about what happened to him as long as he got his answers, James blasted the door of the hinges.

Sirius was standing close tothe wall looking at a portrait hang on the wall. He pulled out his wand at the blast but froze when he saw James holding Paige's wand to her throat.

"Drop your wand or I'll blow her head off!" James yelled at Sirius. Sirius did as he was told, looking from James to Paige. "Good. Now for my questions. Who the hell are you?"

"It'sme James. Its Sirius." Sirius said praying that Paige wouldn't get hurt for that answer.

"Don't give me that bullshit!" James yelled. "Let see how many paper cuts will it takes before her skins gone, shall we?" James asked. He pointed the wand at Paige's face and a fresh cut appeared across her cheek. "Again, who are you?" James asked, moving so that his back wasn't facing the door anymore and he was inside the room.

"Sirius Black." Sirius said again, looking at Paige trying to think of away to make James understand before he really hurt her.

"Wrong answer!" James yelled, making another cut on Paige's face. "Alright, how about another question. Who's she?" He asked looking at Paige and then returning his gaze to Sirius.

"She's Paige Summers." Sirius answered. This couldn't continue. James would get bored or angry soon and god onlyknew what he would do to Paige then.

"What the hell is with these wrong answers?" James asked, while making another cut on Paige's face.

"Fine. If you wont take my answers, what about this?" Sirius asked before doing the only thing he could think of. He transformed into Padfoot. Praying that James would remember that each Animagus form is unique, and that no one can double it. No one.James just stared at Padfoot. The dog stood still for a moment, then slowly began to move toward James and Paige. Still James just stared. Paige stared down at the dog as well.

The dog stopped when in reached a spot just in front of Paige and James. The dog whimpered softly at them, and sat down. Paige felt James hold on her loosen, but stayed in his grasp. But when she felt his wand hand drop to the side, she dartedawayand moved off to the side. James didn't seemedto notice. All of his focus was on the dog that sat before him.

"How?" James asked in a voice so quite that, had Sirius not been a dog, it would have gone missed. Sirius transformed back into a man. WatchingJames closely, Sirius took a tentative step closer to him. When James didn't react, Sirius closed the gap between them and grabbed James into a hug. James hugged him back. He couldn't believe it. Sirius wasn't dead. That same thought just ran through James mind as he hugged his best friend, his brother, so tight that he felt as though if he let go, Sirius would disappear. Sirius was alive. He wasalive.Sobs that had been pushed away in the mausoleum could not be denied anymore.

Sirius just hugged James back with just as much force as his sobbed. He didn't mind that James was nearly cutting of his air supply, as he was sure he was doing the same to him. He was really James. He wasreallyback. And for right now, that was all that mattered.

* * *

A.N-What do you guys think? Sappy? Please, pleaselet me know. I'm not really all that sure I like how this turned out. So your feedback is really needed. To tell you guys the truth, I would have updated last night, but my best friend blew me off, and needless to say, I was really, really upset. Still am upset.And writing a thing about two best friendsreunitingwasn't something that was gonna make me feel any better.But, do you know what would make me feel better? If I got lots and lots of reviews from you guys. It would really make me smile. And I need some smiles. 


	10. After

Sirius wasn't sure for how long he held on to James as though his life depend on it. He wasn't sure when the role of being the one comforting and the one needing the comfort had switched between them. Though he was sure that he had done most of the comforting. All he knew was that, one-minute James was sobbing all the fears that he had had since waking in the tombinto Sirius' shoulder, and the next, he had passed out from emotional and physical exhaustion. There were small rays of sunshine making their way through the dirty window meaning that it had to be in the early hours of the day. At some point or another during the night, they had sunk on to the floor, their legs no longer able to support them. It wasn't until he had to stand to get James into bed that Sirius even noticed they had been sitting on the floor. It wasn't hard to get James to bed. He had done it before. There had been many times where they had gone out drinking and Sirius awoke the next day to find James sprawled on the floor (how he got there, Sirius never knew), more then likely close to freezing his balls off. So being the great friend he was, he would get James into bed, even with the major hangover he had.

He smiled at the memories as he stretched out the aches and pains sitting on the floor all night had given him. It was also then that Sirius noticed that Paige wasn't in the room. When had she left? Sirius made his out of the room, shaking the tiredness from him as he walked. He headed toward the kitchen thinking of getting himself a drink, regardless of the time. God knew that he needed one. When he entered the kitchen, the sight of brown hair spilled all over the table told him at once where Paige had ended up. Trying not to wake her, he quietly made his way over to the cabinet where the firewhiskey was kept. But, cause of those damn Auror senses, he wasn't quiet enough. Paige's head snapped up at whatever sound that Sirius had made to alert her of his presence in the room. When she saw it was only Sirius she relaxed.

"How is he?" She asked, voice hoarse from just awaking up.

"He's…Sleeping. For now." Sirius said looking at Paige for a moment before continuing his way to the firewhiskey cabinet. He knew that wasn't really what she had meant when she asked, "How is he?" but he didn't really know that answer himself. But thankfully, Paige let it slide. Instead she asked,

"And how are you?" while rubbing her eyes tiredly. She looked as though she hadn't had enough sleep in a fair few days. Sirius didn't answer her question right away. He grabbed a bottle of firewhiskey, a goblet from another cabinet, and sat down at the table, across from Paige. All the while knowing that she was watching him. Once Sirius had poured himself a drink, and had taken a swig of said drink did he answer her.

"My best friend who has been dead for the past fourteen years, isn't dead any more." He said simply.

"Well, we'll have to wait till James wakes up to know for sure, but going on what he said last night, he never was dead." Paige said reaching across the table and grabbing Sirius'goblet from him and taking a drink from it.

"And as I said last night," Sirius said, taking the goblet from her as she passed it back, "I took his pulse when I found him. And he didn't have one." He ended taking another drink that then passing it back to Paige without her asking for it. She took it from him, took a drink and said,

"You don't have to tell me about there not being a pulse Sirius. I checked too." And she pushed thegoblet back to him. They both sat in silence for a little bit, just passing the goblet back and forth.

"I just realized," Sirius said, sitting up straight. "I didn't finish telling Phinneas about what was going on so that he could give the message to Dumbledore."

"I told him about it last night, after I left the room. He moved to a portrait in the hallway so wewouldn't disturbed you guys. Dumbledore knows whats going on and he said that he's looking into it. And that he'll be over soon to question James himself. Just to be safe you know? He also said that we should keep the things we tell him to a minimum." Paige said calmly.

"Well yea, if Dumbledore still isn't positive that he's really James course we're not gonna start telling him about everything with the order," Sirius said, but stopped when he saw Paige shaking her head.

"No, he didn't meanjust order things,he meant...other things." Paige said.

"What do you mean other things?" Sirius asked, pouring more firewhiskey into their goblet.

"Like you being in Azkaban things for example." Paige said softly. Sirius snapped his head up to look at her. It hadn't crossed his mind. Not once. Well, thoughts about Azkaban had crossed his mind last night, but never the thought that he would have to tell James that he spent twelve years inside it. And then, thinking of what James reaction would be, another, bigger, fact that James had to be made aware of came to his mind. Which was the fact that Harry was still alive.

"Was one of those things that we're not suppose to tell James that Harry's alive?" Sirius asked, torn between what answer he wanted her to give him. If Dumbledore said that he didn't want James to know, Sirius would be angry at the man for keeping such information from James. And yet he would feel relieved. Cause that would give him time to think of how he would drop a bomb shell like that on James.

"I don't know. But I think it was." Paige said leaning back into her chair and closing her eyes. She really didn't wanna go back to work. But she knew that she had to. Cause people would get worried at some point or another. And also she had to go back cause she really just wanted to get away from Sirius so she could sort through her thoughts. injuries

As Sirius watched her close her eyes, he realized that the cuts caused by Jameshad been healed. Along with her other injuries. He opened his mouth to comment on it when realization of what had happened earlier in this kitchen, in the very chair he was sitting in, came back to him. And he dropped the goblet, which he held in his hand. Paige opened her eyes to look at him, and saw that he had terror written all over his face.

"What's wrong?" She asked sitting up looking at him.

"Oh my god. What the hell did I do?" Sirius said, though it was more so to himself then to Paige.

"Sirius…" Paige said again. This time he turned to look at her.

"Paige, I…Oh god…Paige I tortured him. Oh god. I, I can't believe…I really tortured him. And he was telling the truth. Oh god Paige if you didn't come back when you had…" Sirius said terror, disbelief and fear were all laced into his voice as he spoke. Having hours to herself last night, Paige had already realized this and had planed how to handle the situation.

"And he tortured me too. Not a lot, but still. And had you been the one left alone in the room with him, he probably would have done it to you. We were all under the assumption that the other was a death eater. He wont hold it against you that you were very, very mad that a "death eater" was posing as him." She said in a calm, soothing voice.

"It doesn't matter! What I did to him and was going to do to him…" Sirius said angerly before trailing off.

"Please Sirius. I had done more damage to him while we were dueling. You gave him cuts," Paige said. She knew that this was one battle that she was not going to win.

"Cuts that could have killed him if they were let to bleed any longer then they had." Sirius said back.

"There is nothing that I can say to you to make this better. All I can say is that he would have done the same if he was in your position. I'm sure of it." Paige said, still in the same calm, soothing voice. Sirius was silent. He wasn't buying a word of what she said. There was no getting around the fact that, had he been left alone longer with him, he really would have removed the skin on James' arm. His best friend he would have done this to. And that thought made him sick. It was no shock that James didn't believe him when he said he was really Sirius. The Sirius that James knew would never result to death eater tactics. Which he had done. He felt disgusted with himself.

"Don't go and beat yourself up now or anything." Paige said rising out of her chair and stretching as Sirius had done before. "James doesn't need you to do stupid shit like that now." She added reaching for her cloak and putting it on.

"Where are you going?" Sirius asked her. He really didn't want her to go. He need someone to talk to about everything that was going on. About what he should say to James when he woke up. How to avoided answering questions that James might ask that Sirius can't answer. But on top of all that, he really just didn't want her to leave. There were still a lotof things that _they_ needed to talk about.

"I gotta get back to work. They may all hate me over there, but there still gonna miss me. And plus, I'm sure to have a ton of paper work just sitting on my desk." She said straightening out her cloak. Once again, not meeting Sirius' eyes.

"Are you going to come back?" Sirius asked trying to sound casual. Paige looked at him for a moment before answering.

"No. I don't think so." Sirius looked at her sharply when she said this.

"Not even to see James when he gets his shit together?" Sirius asked her angrily.

"I'm sure that I will see James soon enough. But I think it's better if I don't hang around here." She said.

"Oh, I get it." Sirius said catching on. Paige looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Do you now?" She said sounding skeptical.

"Yea. You don't wanna be here with me. That's why you're leaving." Sirius said angrily. Paige just sighed and shook her head. "Don't shake your head no when I'm right." Sirius said.

"Sirius…You know what? I don't have time to stand here and argue with you. Remus was contacted last night. Some time today talk to him. He needs some information about whats going on. If I were him, I would be going crazy. So make sure you talk to him. And soon." She said, sounding like a mother who was going out and was giving her kids a "To Do" list before she left. "And make sure you get some sleep as well alright?" And she headed over to the door. When she reached the door she turned back to look at Sirius, "It was good to see you again Sirius." She said. With that, not even waiting for an answer, she left.

Sirius sat there for a few moments. Head spinning from everything that had happened in the last 24 hours. There was only one day between the present time and when he and Remus were getting drunk on the day that they had lost their best friend and sister. And what a one-day it had been. Sirius looked down at the floor to see where the goblet he had dropped was, when he saw something that made his heart hurt. There was blood on the floor underneath the chair next to him. The chair that he had sat James in. He reached down and picked up the goblet, which was by the leg of his own chair, and tried to igrone the blood of his best friend. The blood of his best friend that he had shed no less. He walked over to the sink and put the goblet inside and then leaned against the sink, closing his eyes. Trying to block out the images of him cutting James' arm out of his mind. He wasn't having much success though.

Deciding that he would take Paige's advise, he started to make his way upstairs. As he was walking up the stairs, however, he saw something that made himsprint up the rest of the stairs till he made it to the room where he had left James. What he saw that made him run up the stairs was the house-elf heads that had been mounted on to the wall. He had not seen Kreature to tell him to stay away from James' room. And James for that matter. Quietly, he opened the door to the room. James was still fast asleep. Looking around, he didn't see Kreature anywhere in the room. Letting out a sigh of relief, Sirius closed the door and turned to head upstairs to look for Kreature there. The last thing that James needed was to be woken up by that bloody house-elf. God only knows what the little pain in the bloody ass would say to him.

He found Kreature poking around in the attic. Again. Sirius gave him a direct order to stay away from James' room and that he was not aloud to be in the same room as the guest that was in the house. As soon as the guest enters the room, Kreature is to apperate to another room of the house at once. Sirius wouldn't say who the guest was because he didn't want Kreature to get curious. The demand for Kreature to apperate out of the room was because he could mutter many nasty thingsif he were to walk out of theroom that Sirius didn't want James hearing.

After telling off Kreature, Sirius made his way back down stairs, to get some much needed sleep.

* * *

A.N-How was that? Short yes I know, and I'm sorry but I want where James and Sirius talk to be its own chapter. So tell me, what do you guys think is going on with Paige and Sirius? I wanna know what you guys are thinking about it. Now, I really must say, that I really do smile ever time I get a review. I really do. No lie. Soooo, can you guess what I'm gonna ask of you guys? Cough-review-cough. Well, let me know what ya think.

p.s- Don't know if any of you care or not, but I talked with my best friend, and we're good now. :)


	11. Questions

Upon awaking, James for a half of a second expected to find Lily lying next to him. Or to hear that little baby giggle from his son that he just loved to cause and hear. And yet he heard nothing. Not even the sound of the television (that he had incensed they buy after seeing one in Lily's parents house) could be heard. At this point it all came back to him. He sat up and tried to remember how he had gotten into this bed. The last thing he could remember was Sirius. As he sat in bed, that one thought continually ran through his mind. Sirius was alive. Voldemort hadn't gotten him. This made him want to yell with joy. But then, thoughts of all those who were lost came to the surface. His wife and son, being the freshest of them. It still hurt, and it would continue to hurt for a long time, but the fact that he had Sirius with him to help get him through it, dulled the pain slightly. The next thought of loss was that of Remus. Had he lived, surely he would have been here last night. Wherever here was anyway. If any of the others had lived, they would have been here as well. These thought brought back the pain that had been dulled in having Sirius still with him.

Looking around the room, James saw that it was very gloomy. Attempts at making it better were obvious; though it was just as obvious they were ineffective. When he looked to his left he saw that on the bedside table, there was a tray of food. For the first time, James took notice to how hungry he was. Eagerly, he took the tray from the table and placed it on his lap and began eating. The food was simple enough. A chocolate chip muffin (one of his favorite breakfast items), some porridge, and a stack of buttered toast were what the breakfast consisted of. He looked around the room he was in some more as he ate. As his scan of the room reached the door, he found himself wondering who had put it back on its hinges. That thought, led to the memory of who had been the one to blow the door off said hinges. And, who that person had a wand at the throat of. Piece of toast half way to his mouth, James froze as he remembered what he had done to Paige. If Sirius was really Sirius, then surely that had really been Paige.

James felt sick with himself. Putting aside the breakfast tray, fully intending to find where Paige had got to; James had only just started to pull the covers from him when the door opened. The opener was Sirius. He stopped once he saw that James was awake. For a moment, both seemed to be stuck. Sirius stuck, in his act of entering the room, and James in removing of the covers. Both snapped out of it though rather quickly.

"I… brought you some water. Forgot to bring it up to you before." Sirius said walking over to the bed and handing James a goblet. James took it from him gratefully. Once James had drained the goblets contents (which was just some water) James asked,

"Where's Paige? Is she alright?" almost sounding frightful of the answer.

"She is perfectly fine, but had to get back to work." Sirius answered him, walking away from the bed to get a chair that was on the other side of the room.

"Are you sure that she's alright though?" James asked again, concern very evident in his voice.

"Yes, I'm sure." Sirius said smiling slightly to reassure James as he brought the chair over to the bedside and sat down on it. They sat in silence for a while. The silence was absolutely killing one of the occupants of the room. There was so much that Sirius had to say to James. So much that James had to know. And yet, here he sat, in silence. Finally Sirius voiced one of the thoughts that were eating at him. "Are you alright? I mean, your… arms. Are, are they…alright?" Sirius asked fumbling over his words. Knowing of what Sirius was speaking of, James looked down at his arms. Only to find that they had been healed. Seeing this he turned his head back up to Sirius' with a small smile said,

"Well it would seem so." He said. Again they passed into silence. Silence between the two of them was not something that they had experienced much before. Thus, leading to make the situation very awkward for the both of them. Both desperately wanted to end it, yet both were finding it a very hard task to accomplice.

"I should have listened to you." Sirius said suddenly breaking the silence.

"What do you mean?" James asked perplexed.

"When you told me that you were you, I should have," Sirius started saying, but James cut him off.

"And I should have listened to you when you told me that you were you. At least you took out, what you thought were lies, on me. I took out the, what I thought were lies, on Paige." James said. This conversation was surreal. These conditions of conversation were surreal. Sirius was talking to his best friend who had been dead for the past fourteen years, and James was talking to a Sirius that was not the same one he had just recently spoke to. For James, it was only two days ago that he had last since Sirius. And the man sitting in front of him was anything but him. This mans eye's had a hunted look to them. His eye's had none of the playful, alive glint of those of his best friends. He was also a lot skinner. Sirius was always lean, but never skinny. Which this man most defiantly was. But the change in the eyes was the one that James could not get over. What had happened to cause the change?

"It doesn't matter," Sirius started again, only to be, yet again, stopped by James.

"Sirius. Stop. I'm fine. My arms are fine. Believe me, I've had worse. Which I'm sure that you are aware of. And if you still are going to be bugged about this, just think us even. You for this, and me for what I did to you in sixth year when I thought you had done something with Lily." James said in a firm voice. Sirius could only sigh in response. Silence over took the room again. Never in either one of their lives, could they remember feeling awkward around each other.

"Remus is coming later. He heard about you coming back last night, but couldn't get away from his, er, engagements till tonight." Sirius said. Once again acting as the breaking of the silence. He had gotten in contact with Remus this morning after getting some much needed sleep. It was true that Remus did have other engagements, order engagements in fact, but the real truth as to why he was coming later was because he was currently in a state of shock. And, he believed it better for Dumbledore to question James before he arrived. Because he was certain that if it was an imposter, he would kill him. At the mention of Remus, James head snapped up and he stared at Sirius, eyes wide.

"What do you mean?" James asked in a soft voice. Sirius didn't understand why James was acting this way. He had thought that James would love to see Remus. But this reaction had thrown him.

"Remus. He's gonna come by later to see you." Sirius said, watching James closely.

"You, you mean that…That Remus, Remus is still alive too?" James asked, disbelief evident in his voice.

"Yea, he's still alive." Sirius said confused. Then, it clicked. James thought that Voldemort was still in power; he must think that everyone is dead. Which is why he would think that Paige and himself were death eaters. '_Cause he thought that we were dead' _Sirius thought. Sirius had to tell him that the first war was over. He had to tell him that for the past fourteen years, the wizarding world had been in peace. But he couldn't. Dumbledore said that James couldn't know anything major till after he talked to him. How the hell was that going to be kept a secret?

"How?" James asked. He could hardly believe it. Sirius and Remus were alive. His best friends had lived. They didn't die. If they didn't die, then maybe something happened and the light started to pull ahead in the war. Or at least make the fight more even footed.

"I can't tell you yet." Sirius said lamely. He knew that James wouldn't take this answer. And he hated not giving him the answers to whatever question James asked. How great would it be to tell him that the peace the wizarding world had had for the past fourteen years, had all been thanks to his wife and son?

"What do you mean you can't tell me?" James asked him. This floored him. Why couldn't Sirius tell him how him and Remus had lived this long?

"Dumbledore wants to talk to you before we give you any information." Sirius said dryly. "I know that your you, but he wants to question you all the same." James nodded his head. Fine. He would wait for Dumbledore. But as soon as Dumbledore was done, Sirius better have some good answers. There was something about this that didn't seem right. Something felt off.

Silence was threatening to over take the room again and as Sirius had been the one making the conversation before, James decided to ask one of the questions that were eating him.

"Where the hell are we?" He asked Sirius. Sirius let out his bark like laugh, which as he did so, made him look more like the man James had last spoken too.

"Not quite hell, but really, really close to it." Sirius said, some laughter still in his voice. Though there could also be some bitterness detected in his voice. "You always wondered what my house was like, right? Well tell me. What do you think of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black?" He asked, saying the last part with the bitterness of his voice becoming very clear. James stared at him for a moment. He had to be joking. There was no force in this world that could bring Sirius back to, not even considering inside, the house of his childhood. Sirius had said those exact words to James when he ran away form home and ended up on the Potter's doorstep. He told James as they sat in the bathroom and James helped clean up his cuts and the blood that seemed to cover him. The fact that Sirius was here, inside, was going against every thing that James believed to be solid facts.

"Yea. I know what your thinking." Sirius said with a little chuckle as he saw the confusion on James face. " "No force in this world could bring me back there", yea well, as it turns out there are some forces. But anyway, welcome to the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix." Sirius said holding his arms out wide, in a mock gesture of welcome. Once again, James just stared. The Order has a fixed location now? It never had one before, the location of meetings was always moved around. Hardly ever being in the same location twice. The fact that a building, no a house, was now the one meeting spot seemed so inconceivable. And this house of all.

"What?" was all the James could get out. Once again, Sirius gave a little chuckle to how lost and confused James was about this situation.

"My dear sweet mum died about ten years ago. So, with her and dad and Reg gone, it's mine. I offered it to Dumbledore to use as headquarters. Wish I hadn't now, but, at the time it seemed like a good idea." Sirius said. Not in the slightest sounding sad about the fact that his mother had died, thus leaving the house to him.

"Why though? I mean, the Order never use to have a headquarters. Is safe it have one now?" James asked.

"Yea it is. Last time we were scrambling to catch up, and there was the spy and everything thing, and well now," Sirius started to explain but James heard something that didn't tally up and interrupted him.

"Wait, wait, wait. What do you mean "last time"?" James asked. Sirius stared at James wide-eyed. He was silent of a moment then seemed to come to.

"No I didn't." Sirius said quickly. He knew that James wouldn't by it and for two reasons. One, Sirius sounded just like a five year old caught stealing a cookie before dinner by their mother and two, James could always tell when Sirius lied.

"Yes you did." James said back. "You said "last time we were scrambling to catch up" what do you mean by last time?" James asked. At first he thought that Sirius was talking about before he had "died" and that thought didn't even come to his mind until after he had voiced his question. But Sirius answer, or lack of, didn't work out.

"What I meant by it was that…" Sirius started trying desperately to think of something other then the truth to tell James. But thankfully, before the pause became to drawn out, the door of the room opened and Albus Dumbledore walked in. Sirius had to hold in the sigh of relief that he so wanted to give. Dumbledore gave him the escape route he needed to get out of the hole he had just dug himself into. "Well, I guess I'll just leave you two. I'll be back once he's gone." Sirius said while standing, adding the last part looking at James. James just nodded his head. Sirius gave a small nod to Dumbledore as he past the man on his way out of the room. He closed the door behind him.

Dumbledore examined James closely as he moved to the chair that Sirius had just vacated. The man certainly looked like James. There could be no polyjuice potion at work as Sirius and Paige had made sure that he was without drink for at least an hour. Then there was of course the fact that both Sirius and Paige believed him to be James. No, he didn't doubt that the man sitting in the bed before him was James Potter. What he was here for was to question James about was how he was here, alive.

"Hello James." Dumbledore said in the same voice he used when James was sent into his office from a class he was thrown out of. "I have some questions that I need to ask you. I hope that you understand." He continued. James nodded his head, signaling that Dumbledore could start his questioning. Maybe after he was done with his questions James could ask some of he's own.

"What happened on Halloween 1981?" was the first question asked. James took a deep breath before starting this story. This would be the first time he told it to someone. He wished now that Sirius hadn't left the room.

"Me and Lily were sitting in the living room. It was late. And then I heard a crash, and I told Lily to take Harry and run. That I would hold Voldemort off as long as I could, so that they would have time to get to the portkey and get out. Maybe even get help if I lasted long. After she made it out of the room, Voldemort came in. He made some crack about Lily and Harry. And then we started dueling. I wasn't doing that bad all things considered," James said with a dry laugh, though it was clear he could not find any humor in the topic. Taking a gulp, he continued, "Then he said something about Peter, and he caught he off my guard. He said how I would make a good death eater. And how this was my last chance to join him. I said that I would never join him. He said what about after he killed Lily and Harry." James had to stop here. The pain of their deaths rose to a lump in his throat, which prevented him from continuing. But he knew that he had to, so he did. "Then… then he said that they weren't all who I cared about. And that he would ask me after he killed everyone that I care about. Then he was thinking about what to do with me while, I guess, he was busy killing everyone close to me. And then, then he asked if I wanted to be his tester or something like that. Its kind of a blur to me what happened after this. I remember him shooting a white light at me. And, and then, I remember feeling like, sleepy or something. And, the rest is just a blur. I can't remember what happened next." James said, voice only shaking slightly during the end of his story. Dumbledore stroked his beard thoughtfully, not saying anything, just staring at James for few minutes. James hated being under his gaze like that. He always gave the feeling of looking right through you. Finally he asked another question.

"What is the next thing that you remember?" He asked in his calm voice.

"Next thing I knew, I woke up inside my tomb in my family mausoleum." James answered. Trying to block the picture of Lily's tomb from flashing it's self before his eyes.

"And then," Dumbledore prodded gently.

"When I saw Lily's tomb I realized what must have happened to her and Harry. And I lost it. I don't know for how long I just cried. But, later a muggle came in and I asked him some questions. Harry's tomb wasn't there, so I wanted to know where it was. But when I said I was seeing my wife, he freaked and said that the mausoleum hadn't been opened in fourteen years. Which freaked me cause, how did Lily's and mine's tombs get in there if it hadn't been opened? So, I threw him up against a wall cause he wasn't answering my questions. Next this Auror comes and I stun him cause I have to know what the hell was going on. Once the old man told me where I could find information about the people in the mausoleum, I left him and the Auror and headed to the main building." James stopped here and looked at his old Headmaster. What he had done to that muggle was horrible. What would Dumbledore think of him? Showing the scary ability of seemingly reading minds, Dumbledore said,

"I do not think any less of you James. You were in a state of such shock were you were unaware of the actions that were being committed." James just nodded his head and then continued on with the story.

"In the main building there was this kid sitting at a desk, I threw him against a wall too, and told him to find me the Potter records. Well the records were useless, so I asked him where I could get information on their deaths, and he said old town newspapers. Before I could leave though, two other Aurors were with the one from before. I stunned them all then apperated to Godric's Hollow. And that was when I saw that Voldemort had got through to the muggle world," As James told this part of the story he stared at the wall opposite from him, with eyes out of focus. Had he been looking at Dumbledore we would have seen, for only a half a second, a look of surprise cross his aged face before once again showing no other emotion other then curiosity. But he didn't. So he went on. "I went into the library, and nearly stunned this lady, but she got out of my way. I read what the muggles thought happened. And…and about how, how they never found Harry's body." Once again the pain cause James to take a moment to collect himself. "I'm not sure why, but I just found myself going to my house. I had to see it." James said, eyes burning slightly. "I went in though. And I saw…" He couldn't. He couldn't say anything more of the inside of the house because flashes of what it was, and what it had been kept appearing before his eyes. "After I left the house I saw Paige. And I thought that she was a death eater posing as Paige because I couldn't think of a way she could have lived this long. Then we dueled. She managed to stun me in the end. When I came to I heard people talking, so I acted like I was still stunned, but Sirius caught me. Once Paige left for Hogwarts, he tied me up and questioned me. They both questioned me when Paige came back, this time under veritaserum. She stunned me again after a while. But I came to quicker then last time, and I used her as a hostage and asked Sirius some questions." He stopped here; Dumbledore didn't know that Sirius was an Animagus. How was he going to explain how he believed Sirius?

"I am aware that Sirius is an Animagus, which, I'm going to assume was how he persuaded you to believe him." Dumbledore said calmly. James stared. How did he know? They had all swore that they would never tell anyone. Did Sirius, the one he had thought to make the promise, break it? "Now is not the best time to explain how I came to this information. I'm sure that Sirius will inform you when the time is right." Dumbledore said while pulling from within his robes a watch and checking the time. "Alas, I must leave. That is all the information that I required. I will be looking into James as much as I can, I promise you. I'll send Sirius up on my way out. Good day to you my boy." And before James could find his voice to ask some of his own questions, Dumbledore left the room.

* * *

A.N-I'm sorry it took me a while to get this chapter up. But here it is! And down there on the left is this button, and when you hit it, you cansend me a review. And I _love_reviews! So please, please tell me what you think and give me lots of reviews. To answer some questions that I've been getting about Harry. He will be coming in more later. I know that he has just had little parts but, he will have chapters all devoted to him (or mostly devoted to him)soon. Ok, now heres a little teaser for next chapter... 

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_James picked up one of the yellowing newspapers that littered the floor and nearly dropped it when he saw a picture of himself of aboutfifteen looking backup at him. But, after taking a closer look,he saw that theboy wasn't him. This boy had a lightening blot scar on his forehead.Then he saw the title :The Triwizard Tournament and The Boy-Who-Lived, by Rita Skeeter._


	12. The BoyWhoLived

Sirius had to remember to send a letter to the Weasley twins next time he could. He really had to pass along his complements about those extendable-ears of theirs. It really was a handy thing to have around Sirius thought as he fingered the flesh colored string idly. Sitting in the kitchen once more, Sirius sat deep in thought as he waited for Dumbledore to find him. Most of his thoughts were on what he had just heard. And his heart ached for his best friend. The second after he closed the door to the room James was staying in, he wished he hadn't left. Memories of when James and him were back at Hogwarts came back to him. More over the ones in which James' pride would get in the way of him talking about his problems to anyone. Sirius included. James had a strong sense of pride, which (weather subconsciously or not Sirius didn't know) kept him from sharing any feelings that might show weakness. If James ever did talk about any feelings of fear, sadness, or grief, it was a onetime event and would not be repeated again. At lest not without the aid of threats made by a best friend or two. Which is why Sirius summoned one of the twins ear things. And also, apart from wanting to know what had happened to his best friend that night, Sirius also wanted to see what other questions the headmaster would ask.

Ever since Paige told Sirius that he couldn't tell James anything, weather it was about himself or Harry, he had been bugged by the reasoning behind it. Even if Dumbledore thought that James was a death eater, what death eater wouldn't know about the Boy-Who-Live or about the death eater that killed all those muggles? Putting the extendable ear down onto the table Sirius put his head in his hands. _'Well, at least Remus will be here soon. He'll know what the hell I should do.'_ Sirius thought dryly. He looked up from his place at the table when he heard the door open and watched as Dumbledore walked in. They were both silent as Dumbledore took the seat across from Sirius. It wasn't until Sirius saw Dumbledore pull some of those muggle candy things out from his robes that he realize that Dumbledore wasn't going to start the conversation any time soon. So he did.

"Well," Sirius said staring at the old man before him. Dumbledore looked up at him as he placed one of the sweets into his mouth.

"I feel that as soon as I leave or at anytime you please, it would be suitable for you to tell James about Harry. And yourself of course." Dumbledore said calmly. Sirius blinked. "Lemon Drop?" Dumbledore add, holding the box out to Sirius.

"And you feel that I can tell him now as appose to before because…" Sirius said. Dumbledore sighed before answering.

"I had a fear as to what James' reaction would be upon learning of Harry being alive." Dumbledore said.

"What do you mean you had a fear about his reaction? He thinks he lost his son and wife! I'm sure that hearing one of them is still alive wouldn't bring up the want to hex the messenger!" Sirius said. He didn't like Dumbledore's reason. Afraid of what a father would do once he found out that his only son wasn'tdead, come on now.

"It is said Sirius, that the most dangerous place in the world to be, is in-between a mother and her child. And I say, that the second most, is between a father and his child." Dumbledore said.Sirius noted, through his current anger at the headmaster, that the twinkle that was usually in Dumbledore's eyes, was not as pronounced as it usually is. "Weather or not James and yourself ever talked about the danger Lily was in, I know not. But he spoke with me about it… often. He never thought that he would lose her, but he confided in me that were she ever lost, he would be as well." Sirius gave a small nod of his head to show the headmaster that he understood what he was talking about. Him and James never spoke it out loud, but Sirius knew all the same. It was one of the things that didn't need to be spoken between them.

"When I first informed James and Lily of the prophecy, Lily cried. And James, James just stared at Harry before he stated that he would never bury his son." Dumbledore sighed before going on."Any parent who is forced to do so…I cannot begin to contemplate the pain. I feared that the loss of a wife whom he loved so dearly, and the loss of a son, would push him over the edge. Beyond reason." Dumbledore continued. Sirius opened his mouth to say something but Dumbledore answered the question he was going to ask. "I know what you are thinking. Telling him about Harry would bring him back. Make him see reason again. We could not have been sure of this. Yes, the news of Harry being alive would lessen the grief, but he would still be unreasonable. One cannot just switch from one state of mindto the another. I knew that James would want to get to Harry. I feel he will try no matter what state of mind his is in. But, it was my fear that if he tried to go, and you tried to stop him, that he would cause great harm to you."

"Me and James use to duel all the time and we were evenly matched." Sirius said. His anger at Dumbledore had fallen away sometime during the explanation of why Dumbledore wanted the information kept from James.

"Yes, yes you were. But in a state of unreason, and unbelievable grief in which he attacked two muggles… As I said before, I believe the second most dangerous place to be in the world in between a father and his child." Dumbledore stood as he finished speaking. "I must get back to Hogwarts. James is not to come to Hogwarts Sirius. No matter what. It is not safe. I will send news when I can." Sirius stood up as well.

"What about Harry? When is he going to be told about James?" Sirius asked.

"I believe he should be told once we have answers to give him." Dumbledore answered, taking his wand from within his robes and summoning a pot from the opposite side of the room to him.

"But that could take ages! Harry will be furious if this is kept from him for such a long time. I know he'll want answers but I also know that he would want to know this! Is father is alive Albus!" Sirius yelled. No one had ever heard of someone ever coming back from the dead before. No one _had_ come back from the dead. Or whatever the hell happened to James.Dumbledore couldn't just walk into the Hogwarts library and start browsing around. There was nowhere that Dumbledore could get these answers from any time soon. And Harry didn't deserver to be left in the dark that long. Not from this.

"Very well Sirius. When ever you feel that the time is right, we will tell Harry. But I hope you are ready to tell him that he's going to have to wait for some answers." Dumbledore said sounding rather tired. Sirius was taken aback by his answer; he was fully expecting to have to fight to tell Harry. But he recovered.

"And I'll be the one to tell him. No one else, he should hear this from me." Sirius said defiantly.

"Very well. When you feel it is time that Harry be told, send me word and arrangements will be made." Dumbledore said as he placed the pot on the table and pointed his wand at it and said "_Portus," _which cause the pot to turn blue and shake slightly. With a nod to Sirius, Dumbledore picked up the pot once more, pointed his wand at it again, and in seconds, was gone.

* * *

James sat in the bed for a little while after Dumbledore left, wait for Sirius to come back up. As he waited he thought of just what questions need to be asked. One that defiantly had to be asked was how Dumbledore new about Sirius being an Animagus. And then of course the question of what Sirius meant when he said that thing about last time. Those were the two top questions that James wanted answers to.One of his otherquestions was what happened to Sirius to cause such a change in appearance. People change in fourteen years yea, but not in the ways that Sirius had. There was something else besides time that caused the changes that had happened to his best friend. The sound of footsteps coming up stairs alerted James to Sirius' coming back to the room, and soon after hearing him Sirius entered the room.

"Dumbledore's just left," He said, James couldn't help but noticing that Sirius looked nervous about something. "Look James, there's something I gotta tell you. Something that you have to know." Sirius said seriously, running a hand through his hair distractedly. James was shocked to see Sirius like this. Whatever Sirius was going to tell him must be something big for him to be nervous like this.

Sirius suddenly wish that he had thought of what the hell he was going to say before he came to James. If he had stayed in the kitchen and worked out a little speech it wouldn't be this hard. But, he had been so hell bent on having James know the truth that he hadn't planned ahead. And now he was stuck in the situation. There was no going back now. After a few moments used to gather his thoughts, Sirius began.

"There's something that you have to know about," Sirius began, but he was cut off by the sound of a doorbell followed immediately after by screams of insults from his mother. "Damn it." Sirius cursed. What a great time for a visit from a member of the Order. "Hold on just a minute." He said to James before rushing out of the room.

Now James was really curious. What did he have to know? Deciding that he wanted to find out what was going on now, James pulled the covers off of him and got out of the bed. It was then that he realized that someone had removed his shoes. After a quick look around the floor James found his shoes at the end of the bed. While he was hastily pulling them on, he heard a strange noise from some where above him. It sounded like someone, or something, was gagging. The gagging continued as he moved back to the bedside table where his wand was and pocketed it. As James moved to the door, opened it, and stepped out into the hall, he heard it still. Worried that what ever it was that was gagging was indanger of soon choking to death, James headed towards the stairs that led up.

When he reached the landing where the gagging was the loudest, James began to walk up to doors and place his ear against them. When at last he found the room where the gagging was coming from, hepulled out his wand, and slowly opened the door. The room was red, but not a Griffendor red, a blood red. In the center of the room there was a large bed with black covers thathad holes all over it. And on that bed, was a hippogriff. James stared at the animal as it continued to gag. Then before his eyes, it hacked up what looked like the scull of a small animal. Probably a rat. When the hippogriff looked around and saw James standing in the doorway, James found himself bowing. Past classes of Care of Magical Creatures coming back to him. From its position on the bed, the hippogriff bowed in return. Cautiously, James stepped into the bedroom. What the hell was a hippogriff doing inside a house? This house no less. As James looked around, he saw the floor had straw covering it. There were also some bones scattered about. In the corner of the room, however, James saw some old yellowing newspapers, and he moved toward them pocketing his wand as he walked. James picked up one of the yellowing newspapers that littered the floor and nearly dropped it when he saw a picture of himself of about fifteen looking backup at him. But, after taking a closer look, he saw that the boy wasn't him. This boy had a lightening blot scar on his forehead. Then he saw the title: _The Triwizard Tournament and The Boy-Who-Lived, by Rita Skeeter._

The Triwizard Tournament? But that hadn't been played in centuries. And who the hell was this picture of? James opened the newspaper and began to read the article. After reading the first few lines of the article, James' heart seemed to have froze inside his chest.

'_Harry Potter, The-Boy-Who-Lived, is, in a surprising turn of events, the forth champion in the Triwizard Tournament taking place at Hogwarts this year. Yes, the boy who saved the wizarding from You-Know-Who all those years ago is taking part in one of the most famous Tournaments ever held in the wizarding world to date. Your Daily Prophet reporter spoke with the young orphan during the Weighing of the Wand ceremony, where he discussed his late parents with myself." _

The article continued on, but James couldn't read anymore. No. It…it can't be true. _'Someone would have told me'_ James thought. He looked back down at the article. The boy who saved the wizarding world from You-Know-Who… How the hell could a baby stop Voldemort? Some of the greatest wizards died at his hand. It couldn't be possible. No matter how much James heart began to achefor the article to be true, it couldn't be. Looking down at the other newspapers on the floor, James saw more articles about this boy. Some were about his love life, _'Harry Potter's secret Heart Ache'_, and his metal state, '_Harry Potter "Disturbed and Dangerous"'. _But James couldn't read them. His mind was reeling. Suddenly, things seemed to start falling into place. Harry didn't have a tomb in the mausoleum. Even if they hadn't found his body, an empty one would have, should have, been placed next to Lily's. Then what Sirius had said came to mind. Last time. If Harry stopped… No. No baby could do it. Nobody could do it.

'_Lily, James. Please sit down. There is something to which you must be made aware of. It concerns your son, Harry.' _Dumbledore's voice suddenly came to James' mind, and what he had said the day he told him and Lily about the prophecy. But, maybe Harry could do something when he was older, but at the age of one?

' _Look_ _James, there's something I gotta tell you. Something thatyou have to know.'_ Now it was Sirius' voice that filled his head. James looked back down at the picture on the front page. It just couldn't be. And yet, there was that feeling of hope that wouldn't let James ripe his eyes away from the boy.

"James," A voice from the doorway said. Sirius' voice. Slowly James looked up at the door. He took in how wide Sirius' eyes went, and how pale he went when he saw what James held in his hands. "James," Sirius said again, taking a step inside the room.

"What the hell is this all about?" James asked in a low, dangerous voice. "WHAT THE HELL ARE THESE NEWSPAPERS ON ABOUT? WHY ARE THEY MAKING IT SOUND LIKE HARRY LIVED? WHO THE HELL IS THIS BLOODY FUCKING KID?!" James yelled brandishing the newspaper he held at his last question.

"You weren't suppose to find out like this James." Sirius said, taking another step. But as Sirius took his step forward, James took one back. The way Sirius was talking made it sound like the newspapers were right.

"Stop. Stop lying." James said, voice low again.

"No James, I'm not lying. Harry didn't die that night. He lived. He lived James." Sirius said, voice full of mixed emotions. Pride, sorrow, pain, determination, among them. James shook his head, eyes becoming watery.

"No, no, no. It's not possible. I, I saw Harry's room, there's, there's no, no way." James stuttered out. Sirius understood James disbelief; he too saw what Harry's room had become after the attack.

"It is though James. That picture is of Harry. That's your son James." Sirius said, walking, slowly, closer to James. James continued to shake his head. If he got his hopes up, when they all found out that Harry was, in fact, not alive, he would have to lose his son twice. And he couldn't do that. "He's fifteen now James. And, god he looks like you." Sirius said. "But, he still got Lily's eyes, that's really the only big way you can tell he's not you."

"I SAID STOP LYING!" James yelled, and the house around them shook. Once the shaking had stopped, James struggled to not let any tears fall. "You have to stop Sirius. Cause, cause if I believe you, and, and his not, I, I can't do it I, I…" Sirius crossed the rest of the distance that separated himself from James and grabbed James by the shoulders.

"James listen to me. No one really knows exactly what happened that night. But Lily wouldn't let Voldemort get to Harry; she made him kill her first. She died to save Harry." James continued to shake his head, losing in his attempts to keep tears from falling. "No. No, don't shake your head. Listen to me! Because Lily sacrificed herself for Harry, she left a protection on him. And when Voldemort cast Avada Kedavra, when he tried to kill Harry, the spell rebounded and hit Voldemort. And Harry Lived. HE LIVED JAMES!" Sirius yelled shaking James' shoulders as James continued to shake is head. "ALL THAT HE GOT WAS A SCAR! He stopped Voldemort!"

"NO! HOW THE HELL IS A BABY GOING TO KILL THE MOST EVIL WIZARD THAT EVER LIVED?" James yelled back.

"He didn't, Harry didn't kill him. Voldemort was stripped of his powers. The wizarding world had peace for the last fourteen years thanks to your wife and son." Sirius said. James had to understand. He had to. James started mumbling under his breath that it wasn't true. Over and over he said,

"It's not true. It's not. It's not true."

"It is James! Harry is inGriffendor; he's in his fifth year at Hogwarts. He is excellent in Defense Against the Dark Arts. He has a habit of getting into trouble. He plays Quidditch, he's the seeker, and he is the youngest person to make a house team in a century." Sirius started spitting out facts about Harry, hoping that James would believe him.

"It can't be true Sirius it can't be…" James said as sobs started to over take him, something that was happening to much, James noticed some where in the back of his mind dully.

"It is James. I swear to you. I would never lie to you about something like this." Sirius said. James fell to the floor.

"Oh god. No he can't be…" James said. Sirius sat on the floor next to him.

"He is though James. And he is truly your son." Sirius said softly, thinking of all the traits Harry had that just screamed James was his father.

James continued to sob. Though, a changed could be heard in them if you listened close enough. When they first started, they were full of pain, and the pain could be felt by anyone who heard them. And now, they seemed to be of joy. They seemed to be tears of joy.

* * *

A.N- I am so, so, so, so, sooooooo sorry that it has taken me this long to update. But on Christmas night, I started coming down with something, and for the next two days I was sick. And before that, I was having serious computer problems. Whenever you would try to do something, it would say that there wasn't enough memory room for it to do what ever you tried to do. Then, after I got over what ever I came down with, the computer crashed. :'( And it was down for a few days. I had about all of the Dumbledore/Sirius convo done when it crashed, andI lost it.When it finally worked again, I had a major school report that I had to do. So that's what was going on, and why it took this long. But I hope that you all like this chapter, and that you'll all tell me if you liked it or not by reviewing for me. You all should know how much I love to see review alert in my mailbox. And, the more reviews I get, the more I'll but pushed to update soon. So hit that button. 


	13. The Forming of Plans

It took awhile for James to get a hold of himself. It isn't everyday that you wake up thinking that you lost your baby boy only to find that you in fact never lost him, he lost you. Once James was able to speak, questions poured from his mouth at an alarming speed. Sirius had to smile, he hated the deaden look that James had about him before he found out Harry was alive. Now however, he was James again. His method questioning even reminded Sirius of what he did to Remus after the first Prefect meeting, which Remus attended in the company of one Lily Evens.

"Whoa, take it easy alright?" Sirius said with a smile to James when, finally, he stopped speaking for half a second to take a breath.

"Sorry mate. I just, I mean, he's really, my god he's fifteen now and, god I mean…" James went on before trailing off, staring at the wall of Sirius' mother's room. "Alright, alright, we'll do one question at a time." He said eyes snapping back to Sirius. "Okay, how old was he when he pulled his first prank on you. Or Moony, or anyone." James asked, eyes bright with happiness as he looked at Sirius.

The smile that Sirius wore fell from his face, the hunted look of his eyes showing once again (James noticed that when Sirius laughed or smiled it could barely be noticed). _'He thinks I raised Harry.'_ Sirius thought. '_Well he should. I was supposed to if anything happened._' How the hell was he going to tell James he hadn't? How was he going to say that Harry went to live with Petunia and that husband of hers? How was he going to tell James about his time in Azkaban? Seeing Sirius' hesitation James' own smile faded slightly.

"What?" James asked. Sirius looked at him. There was no way in hell his imprisonment would be kept a secret. Taking a deep breath Sirius thought _'Now or never'. _But as he opened his mouth to make an attempt at talking, a voice from the stairs stopped him.

"Sirius? Where are you?" It was Remus. James smile came back full force. He had wanted to see Remus very badly since he found out he was still alive. Standing from his place on the floor, James offered his hand to help Sirius stand as Sirius called,

"In here Remus," in a slightly odd voice. He wasn't sure whether he should be thanking his lucky stars that Remus had delayed him telling James the rest of the "story" or angry that when he finally found the balls to do it, he was stopped. The door to the room opened and Remus Lupin stepped in.

"I'm sor-" Remus started but he stopped when he saw the man standing next to Sirius. And he stayed staring at the man unblinking as if he was scared the man would disappear if he did.

As Remus stared, James took the time to take in his friend. He had some gray hairs. James made a mental note that as soon as things got back to normal to tease him about it. Another thing taken in was the shabbiness of his robes. It seemed money was still a problem for Remus. Remus also looked older. Older then he should. He was only thirty something; he shouldn't have those old age lines.

"Hey Moony." James said finally. And also finally, Remus blinked. Then he smiled and said,

"Hey Prongs," softly. Then he crossed the room so he stood about a foot in front of where the two men stood. After a moments pause, Remus grabbed James into a tight hug (brotherly of course), which James returned. As Sirius watch his two best friends, he felt, oddly enough, a strong, no, _very_ strong, hatred fill him. But it was in no way toward the men in front of him. It was toward Peter Pettigrew. It was because of that rat that Remus was hugging James like his life depended on it.

Remus lost all his friends in one swoop because of that rat. So in a way, his life did depend on that hug. It was the same as the hug Sirius got from Remus (after all the craziness of his escape calmed down) when they had met again. That hug meant that they were real, that Remus wasn't going crazy, and that he wasn't alone anymore. And Sirius hated Wormtail for make Remus alone in the first place.

"God, save for the eyes," Remus started to say when he pulled back from James, but he stopped and stole a look at Sirius who smiled and said,

"He knows about Harry." Knowing that, or hoping that, Remus would catch on that James was still out of the loop on the Azkaban topic.

"Oh well then, god save for the eyes you and Harry are doubles. I mean, I've known that from just seeing him but, seeing you again…" Remus said smiling. James' smile, if it was even possible grew wider.

"Yeah, I've heard that he grew up into a real handsome kid." Remus and Sirius both had to snort at James arrogance. "Sirius was just about to tell me about Harry's first prank. It's a good thing you showed up so I'll know if he's truthful about what Harry did to him." James said excitedly. Once again, Remus stole a look at Sirius, which did not go unmissed by James. "What? What's going on?" James asked, excitement gone as he looked between his friends.

"James," Sirius sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Lets go down to the kitchen, there's more that I didn't tell you that you have to know."

* * *

"Oy. Mate, McGonagall's doing it too."

Harry looked up from his parchment at Ron's words to find their professor staring at Harry with an odd look on her face. Sighing, Harry went back to his work.

"Her too now?" Harry asked dully as he continued his notes on what could go wrong when vanishing a snail. For the past few days, Harry and his friend couldn't fail to notice that the attitude some of the staff showed towards Harry had changed. Some of them had taken to staring at him with odd expressions on there face. Some of these expressions were hard to read and others, well others seemed to be looks of happiness. And some of the staff even seemed to be in a better mood all together when around him. But what was there to be happy about? It was really starting to bother him.

"Oh I'd say about three teachers that you have, and two others that don't teach you. So five." Hermione said from Harry's other side. McGonagall seemed to snap out of it as she yelled to the class,

"The bell will be ringing momentarily, anything that has not been completed today must be handed in as homework on Monday." Her assignment was followed by the sound of the bell dismissing them.

"I really want to know what there all on about. I mean, do they think that the students are lacking in their time spent staring at "Nutty Potter" and they feel they have to pick up the slack?" Harry said sarcastically as they packed up their bags to head outside of Care of Magical Creatures.

"Oh come off it Harry," Ron said as they left the room. "You know well and good that the student body "Staring at Nutty Potter" time will never start to lack in anyway possible." Oddly enough, all Harry could do was laugh with his best friends at the complete truth of Ron's statement. As the walked Hermione started discussing the lesson they just had in Transfiguration, Ron started complaining that Hermione couldn't give them a moment's peace before bring up something school related, and Harry let his mind wander.

The actions of the teachers really made him uneasy. It was as if they knew something that he didn't. And after this summer, Harry learned just how much he hated having things kept from him. He really didn't need this. Not with more thanhalf the school thinking he was nuts and attention loving, and the ever "lovely" overall presents of Umbridge. Witch of a women she was Harry thought, subconsciously rubbing the back of his right hand were the Bitch made the words "I will not tell lies" become scratched into his hand. The thoughts of her form of punishment lead him to remember the event that had taken place just the other night in her detention. It still made him uneasy that when he touched her he felt pain in his scar. Two out of the five Defense teachers that he's had, have tried to kill him. And in his book, that's two too many. His thoughts of the Bitch and his scar hurting him, made his mind wander again to a different topic.

How long would it take Sirius to answer his letter that he had sent? Beside wanting to know what his godfather thought about his scar hurting, he also wanted to see if Sirius knew what was going on with Hagrid's absents. Or perhaps it would be better to think if Sirius would tell them anything about Hagrid's absents. Harry was sure that it was something Order related; he just had no clue what it was.

"Right Harry?" Harry snapped out of his thoughts and looked at Ron who was looking at him expectantly.

"What?" Harry asked as they grew closer the rest of the class standing outside Hagrid's cabin.

"Just say yeah," Ron mumbled under his breath, clearly mumbling so Hermione wouldn't hear. Smiling at Ron's actions Harry said,

"Yup."

"I heard you tell him to say that Ron! And it's not funny you two! I think it's a great idea having the scrub of Gryffindor tower after the first Quidditch match! Think of the mess the tower will be in!" Hermione said, raising her voice, as Harry and Ron's laughter got louder with every thing she said.

Laughing, and, in Hermione's case, scowling, the three of them stood waiting for class to start. But then, all of a sudden, Harry's scar burned with pain so bad that he yelled out with pain, clasped his hands over his forehead, and fell onto his knees.

* * *

'_12 years. He sat in a cell in Azkaban for 12 years.' _James thought, hands shaking so badly that he could hardly hold the butterbeer Sirius had gotten him before telling him, telling him…

"It wasn't that bad really. I was mostly bored." Sirius said, trying, and failing, to break the tension in the kitchen. James just looked up at Sirius. Sirius stared back. The hunted look now had a place, a reason. As one of the very few people who knew the darkest memories Sirius had, James knew just how much bullshit what Sirius had just said was. He knew what Sirius would have to hear in his head every time a Dementor would pass his cell.

"How the hell can I be sitting here talking to you? A crime like that, you should have been under, fuck, max security. Dementors outside the cell every fucking waking moment. How the hell are you not crazy?" James asked, amazed that he was able to speak this calmly about this, of all things. Sirius chuckled dryly.

"They were. But I learned that they don't affect animals. Or should I say an Animagus. When it got really bad, I would change into Padfoot. They couldn't see me; they could only tell that my feelings weren't as human anymore. But it was brushed aside as me being nuts so," Sirius said trialing off. James continued to stare. Then he did the complete unexpected, he lunged at Sirius and started to attack him. James punched ever bit of Sirius that he could reach. Sirius was so shocked by this that it took him a few seconds to even defend himself.

'_God he really does hate me for not taking Harry in.' _Sirius thought as he tried to get James off of him (In the attack Sirius' chair had fallen, taking Sirius and James down to the floor with it). It was his worst fear that James would blame him for Harry's horrible childhood. And James' action made it come true. Why else would he do this if he didn't blame Sirius? And they hadn't even gotten to what the Dursley had done to Harry.

"_LOCOMOTOR _JAMES!" Sirius heard Remus yell. James was lifted off of Sirius, who had a bloody noise. Remus crossed so that he stood between James and Sirius, then he set James back on the ground and helped Sirius off the floor. He looked between the two of them, James, shaking with anger and Sirius who, well Sirius seemed to be a mixture of emotions. Fear, guilt, anger, and sadness were most evident.

"YOU FUCKING BASTERED!" James yelled at Sirius.

"LOOK, IF I HAD KNOWN WHAT THE RAT WAS GOING TO DO YOU THINK I WOULD HAVE GONE? DO YOU THINK THAT I WOULD HAVE LET HARRY GO? NO! LETTING HIM GO THERE WAS NOT PART OF MY PLANS!" Sirius yelled back. Yes, it hurt him beyond belief that James felt like this. His heart was bleeding in his chest. But he acted that night the way he felt was best. He did what he did for James. He sat in that cell because he went to get revenge for _James._ James stared at him after Sirius had his say.

"You think that is what this is about?" James asked in a quite voice. "Yeah, I'm fucking pissed as hell that Harry went there. You can have no idea." He said through grit teeth."But no, that's not why you should get the shit beat out of you. You are so fucking stupid! I am nowhere close worth Azkaban! You, you could have died! Or worse been kissed! You stupid fuck!" James said, voice shaking slightly. "You could have gone to Dumbledore and he would have listened and,"

"YOU THINK I HAVEN'T THOUGHT ABOUT WHAT I _SHOULD _HAVE DONE? God James, every fucking god damn day I thought about what I _should_ have done. But I did what I did because that rat had to die for what he did to you. For what he did to Lily. For what he did to Harry." Sirius said. The fact that James didn't hate him for Harry living with the Dursley made Sirius' heart lighter. But he did not need James to say things to him that were bullshit and weren't true.

"It was my fault about what happened to you that night, I would sit through Azkaban again to keep it from ever happening. It was my fault." Sirius said speaking again. James yelled out in frustration, pushed Remus aside, punched Sirius in the jaw, and then grabbed him into a tight hug.

"Dumb ass." James said as he hugged Sirius with all his might.

"I would do it do it again," Sirius muttered said as he hugged James back.

"Yeah, and I would have to kick your ass again." James said back. " I know that there is nothing in this world that I can say to make you think it wasn't your fault. So how about, after I see my son of course, we go rat hunting and see if there's anything _he_ can say that will make you see it wasn't your fault?" James said pulling back from Sirius and holding out his hand for Sirius to shake.

"Sounds like a plan." Sirius said, wiping some blood from his noise then grabbing James out stretched hand. Both knew that this wasn't over. Sirius would continue to feel guilt. James was right, there was nothing he could say to change how Sirius feels. And James would continue to feel guilty that Sirius went to Azkaban for his family. Though, he couldn't bring himself to say that, if he had been in Sirius place, he wouldn't have done the same.

* * *

Lucius Malfoy pulled his cloak tighter around him as he walked. The news that he carried with him made him uneasy. This was something that the Dark Lord would most defiantly want to hear, Malfoy was sure of this. What he was unsure of was how his master would take said news. It would not be the first time Malfoy had to bring his master unpleasant news. Or be the outlet for the anger brought onto the Dark Lord upon hearing the bad news. Yet, most of the time, Malfoy knew whether or not he would feel the wrath of the Dark Lord, which is what made him so uneasy about this news, for he had no idea how it would be taken. Malfoy stopped outside two stone black doors with serpents as handles and took a deep breath. But, before he could reach out and grasp the serpent door handle, the door opened on its own, and a voice from inside drifted out to him.

"Come Malfoy, I can not be informed of the Ministry's movements with you on the opposite side of the door of me. Enter." Said the cold voice from within. Malfoy, knowing better then to keep his master waiting quickly walked inside.

"My lord," He said, bowing and kissing the hem of Lord Voldemort's robes. He remained on his knees as he began his report. "Fudge took the gold just as you said he would. He will meet with them in the morning to discuss the changes." He paused, trying to find the best way to inform his master of what he had heard while leaving the Ministry.

"Get on with whatever you are trying to tell me Lucius. The Dark Lord does not like waiting. As I'm sure you know." Voldemort said in a soft, hiss-like voice.

"While I was taking my leave, I heard some Auror's talking. It seems that there was magic detected inside the Potter mausoleum, and Summers took the case. She was missing for a while, and when she came back she didn't have a suspect with her. Which raised some questions because she left hell bent on bring one back. I took it upon myself to go to the mausoleum and inspect it my Lord. And, well, James Potter's body is missing from his tomb." Malfoy said. Voldemort sat up straight in his chair, suddenly very alert. Seeing his reaction Malfoy said, "My Lord," but was cut off by his master's laughter.

"How could I have forgotten? Well, well this makes things very interesting. Undoubtedly Summers would have found him and brought him to Black." Voldemort sighed softly after this thought. "And what a shame. There could have been great fun had we had gotten him first. But know," once again he stopped. Staring thoughtfully at the dark stonewalls of the chamber; Voldemort stroked his chin with one of his long white fingers. "I wonder…you are a father are you not Lucius?"

"Yes my Lord." Malfoy answered startled by the question.

"Tell me Lucius, how much do you think it would crush your son to watch you be tortured, and then killed." Seeing the look of shock mixed with horror on Malfoy's face, Voldemort began to laugh again.

He original plan for James Potter had fallen through, but the plan that was forming inside his head as he laughed would be much, much better. After all, what's better then killing two Potters with one hex?

* * *

A.N- I'm so sorry for the wait for this chapter. I had a hard time getting the Harry part how I wanted it. Again, I'm sorry. But I have to say a huge thank you to everyone who review for me, giving me 116 reviews. That made me soooooo happy! And I would really, really love it if you guys gave me some feed back to this chapter, cause like I said, I had a hard time with it. Big, Big smiles if you guys hit that button. I really love to know who's reading this. Well till next time. 


	14. Going to Dumbledore

The pain in his scar started lessening as Harry became aware that someone was half carrying, half dragging him back up to the castle. He was also becoming aware of the whispering that seemed to be all around him.

"Oy! Bugger off! The whole lot of you!" Harry heard Ron yell. Judging by how close Ron sounded when he yelled, Harry assumed that Ron was the one carrying him."Ron!" Harry heard Hermione say from his other side. "You're a Prefect! Yes they should go away, but you should use," but she was cut off by Ron.

"Yeah, that's right. I'm a Prefect! So you lot better listen to me!" Ron yelled again. The whispering started to lessen around them as the continued their way. Harry moaned slightly, the pain was still there but not so bad that he couldn't walk on his own steam. As he tried to stand up right he heard Hermione say,

"I think it would be better to let Ron carry you Harry. That way people wont think your just skipping class. They'll think you're really hurt or sick."

"Yeah mate," Ron said stopping so he could get a better grip on Harry. Once he had one he continued walking. "Good thing you never eat the fourth helpings mum's always giving you. You'd be a hell of a lot harder to carry."

"You call this carrying?" Harry asked dryly as they came to the steps. "Stop. No really Ron, stop. You'll drop me down the stairs. Let me lean on you or something. Though at this moment I'm really finding it hard to care what the damn student body things about me." Harry said as they began there way up the steps to the Entrance Hall, Harry leaning on Ron for support. Ignoring Harry's comment Hermione asked,

"It was your scar Harry?"

"Yeah." Harry answered, running a hand over his scar. His scar had been bothering him over the summer yes, but nothing like this. Over the summer it had just been enough pain to know that something was wrong. But this, and the pain he felt in Umbridge's detention, were no paper cuts.

"So to Dumbledore's office then?" Ron asked as they stopped in the Entrance Hall to figure out where to go. Harry opened his mouth to protest but Hermione spoke before him.

"Look Harry, despite what you may think, I think Dumbledore would want to hear this. Your scar as hurt you, really hurt you, twice in, what, the past three days? I really think we should go to Dumbledore."

"No. I'm fine. I can't even really feel it any more. There's no point." Harry said.

"Well, maybe…nah, forget it." Ron said rubbing the back of his head his a hand and scrunching up his face as though in deep thought.

"What?" Harry asked him.

"Well, maybe… well Dumbledore's head of the order. So he's gotta have a way to get in contact with them. Maybe you could ask if you could talk to Sirius. I mean you told him about the first time your scar hurt you…"Ron trailed off. Both Harry and Hermione stared at him. "It was just an idea." Ron said glumly.

"A bloody brilliant idea!" Harry said, eyes brightening. Ron was right. Dumbledore had to be able to contact Grimmauld Place. Harry would just have to come up with a reason to get Dumbledore to let him speak with Sirius. Hermione seemed to be thinking along the same lines.

"But, wont Dumbledore wonder what's so important that you have to say to Sirius that you can't say to him?" She asked timidly.

"I'll come up with something. Start thinking of all the sweets in Honeydukes." Harry said as he started to make his way over to the marble staircase.

"What? Why?" Ron asked, walking in stride with Harry.

"Dumbledore's password is always a sweet." Harry said as they started up the steps.

"Oh, well you see, er, we, me and Hermione, already know the password." Ron said not meeting Harry's eyes as Harry turned round to look at him.

"All the prefects do." Hermione said softly, once again on Harry's other side. "He gives it out at the prefect meeting so that if there's any problems we can go to him."

"Oh," Was all Harry was able to say. "Right, well then we better start thinking of what the hell I'm gonna tell Dumbledore." He said.

* * *

After Remus had cleaned up Sirius' bloody noise they all sat back down at the table. Each lost in their thoughts. Over the years, there were so many things that Remus found himself wishing that he had told James and Lily. Things he wanted them to know, things he felt they had to know. And now that James was here, sitting in front of him, he couldn't think of anything to say.

"Moony became a professor," was the statement that broke the silence. James and Remus both turned and looked at Sirius who, after feeling their gaze on him, looked up. He smiled then looked at James and said, "Can you believe that? A _Marauder _worked along side Minnie," before emitting his bark like laugh. James shot a quizzical look at Remus, a smile creping on to his face, and then he too started laughing. After looking once more at Sirius, and once more at James, Remus found himself laughing to.

"You owe me 10 Galleons Padfoot." James managed to get out through his laughter.

"What?" Sirius said, his laughter fading to just a chuckle or two. Owing people money was not something Sirius liked to do because it meant one of two things. One, that he had to borrow money from someone, which he hated doing, or that he lost a bet, and he hated losing bets.

"I bet you in sixth year that Moony would be come a professor. And you have just informed me of my winning." James said smiling. Sirius gaped at him.

"Bloody hell I forgot about that." He said before laughing again.

"And when was I going to be clued into this bet?" Remus said looking between the two of his friends.

"You weren't gonna know unless I won. Didn't want you to be pressured into whether or not you would do it. Had to be your own choice." James said.

"Oh gee thanks," Remus said dryly, but he too smiled with his friends. Sirius opened his mouth to speak but stopped. And it was very clear what stopped him. A snowy white owl and just flown into the kitchen from the chimney, a letter tied to her leg.

"Hedwig," Remus said as the owl flew over to where Sirius sat. She landed on the table, held out her leg for him to untie the letter and hooted softly.

"She kinda looks like Midnight." James said looking at the owl as Sirius pet her while he read the letter. Midnight was James' owl when he was at Hogwarts. She was snowy white, just like this owl. James and Sirius thought that it would be hilarious to name a snowy white owl a name that was so common for a black owl. They called it "making an unoriginal name original". Remus rolled his eyes at the mention of Midnight, but kept looking at Sirius to see how to handle this situation. Should they tell James that the owl belongs Harry? After reading the letter over a few times Sirius looked up at Remus and then looked at James.

"Uh, yeah, she does. That's what I thought when I first saw her." He said in to James in answer to Hedwig's resemblance to Midnight. "I gotta go up stairs for a second. Why don't you tell Prongs all about your career as a professor Moony." Sirius said while standing, letter clutched in his hand.

"Everything alright?" Remus asked, hoping that the letter from Harry was just one saying hi. But the reaction he was getting from Sirius said other whys.

"Yeah," Sirius said nodding. "Just gotta talk to Dumbledore for a second." And with that he walked out of the kitchen. James stared after Sirius for a moment then turned to Remus and said,

"So did ya make me proud and give all the Slytherins lots of detentions?" James asked, eyes glinting with mischief. Remus chuckled and said,

"Only if they deserved it." James' face fell upon learning that Remus had not continued making the lives of Slytherins hell. But then a thought came to his mind that brightened his face right back up.

"Did you teach Harry?" He asked excited.

"I did. For only a year, then I had to leave." Remus said. At seeing James face, Remus went into some details about what James' son had learned that year, and, what Remus had learned that year about James' son.

Both knew that there was something that had to be discussed between them, but for now, both parties were happy just to sit and talk about Harry.

"He says that his scar hurt him while he had detention with her. Got that?" Sirius said to his great-great-grandfather.

"Yes, yes. Potter got a headache while with the mean new teacher. Anything else?" Phineas Nigellus asked in a clearly bored voice.

"Yeah," Sirius said. "Tell him that James knows now. And that I want to tell Harry as soon as possible." Phineas nodded his head curtly before he walked out of his frame to give Sirius' message to Dumbledore. Sirius leaned his back against the bare wall next to Phineas' frame, let his head hit the wall with a soft thud, and closed his eyes.

It couldn't all be happening. It just _couldn't_. James _can't_ really be sitting downstairs talking to Remus. Harry _can't_ no longer be an orphan. Remus and himself _can't_ no longer be alone. He _can't_ no longer be…

Sirius' eyes snapped open. James was alive…when the wizarding world found out about James, when the Ministry found out more over… James could testify for him! He would be free! But, before the thought had even finished running through his mind, Sirius realized that with a testimony from James, at most he would just get a trial. If he was lucky.

He was charged for the murder of 12 innocent Muggles and the murder of Wormtail along with his charge of giving Lily and James over to Voldemort. But, instead of listing that long list of charges over and over again, he was simply wanted because he was a "death eater". The Ministry would still want his head; they would just bring the price on his head down a little, as the charge list got slightly shorter. Without Peter, the charge of a murder would remain. Even if they listened and, by some miracle believed that Peter was the death eater, eyewitness said that Sirius held the wand that did the killing. And while an Auror could kill a death eater, killing Muggles was frowned upon. Big time. Sirius closed his eyes again with a sigh. It was a nice thought though.

* * *

Harry, Ron and Hermione stood outside Dumbledore's office for a moment, just staring at the door. Then Harry reached out grasped the griffin knocker and knocked.

"Enter." Said a voice from inside. Harry opened the door but stood to the side to let Ron and Hermione go into the office first.

"Ah, Mr. Weasley, Miss Granger and Mr. Potter. What can I do for you?" Dumbledore asked from behind his desk.

"Hello Professor," Hermione said. Followed shortly after by greeting from Ron and Harry. Harry took notice that Dumbledore seem to only be looking at Ron and Hermione over his half moon glasses. When he realized that no one was speaking Harry cleared his throat.

"Um, Sir? I was wondering if, well I was wondering if there was a way for me to talk to Sirius?" Harry asked, thinking that it would be best to get straight to the point then to beat around the bush. At Harry's words, Dumbledore looked down at his desk and began looking over some of the parchment that covered it. This hit a nerve with Harry. It seemed as though his thoughts about Dumbledore not giving a damn about anything to do with him but his scar seemed to be true. Why else would he act in such a manner of blatant disregard?

"Why is it that this request could not wait until the end of your Care of Magical Creatures class?" Dumbledore asked as he picked up his quill and started to write something on one of the pieces of parchment before him. His tone was not one as though he was angry with them, merely curious, which relieved the three students standing before his desk.

"We didn't want to disturbed you while you were with someone, so we thought that during classes you wouldn't be busy." Harry said. It was a bullshit reason and they knew that Dumbledore would see through it. The only truth in it was that they knew that Umbridge had a class and would be too busy brainwashing them to be harassing Dumbledore.

"I see." Was Dumbledore's reply. "And what is it that you wish to discuss with Sirius?"

"I, I want to, to talk to him about," the reason Harry had come up with on the walk to the headmasters office had flown from his mind and he was desperately trying to think of a reason. Then one came to him. "I want to talk to him about what happened in June." Harry said. Both Ron and Hermione looked at him. Dumbledore stopped writing and held his quill still for a moment. But only for a moment. Then he carried on writing.

"What about what happened in June Harry?" Dumbledore asked, as he stopped writing on the piece on parchment only to start writing on another.

"I've been having these weird dreams about it. About my mum and dad. And, I really need to talk to him about it." Harry said. Once again, what was supposed to be a lie, ended up becoming something close to the truth. Weird dreams, yeah, needing to talk to someone about them, not so much. Dumbledore stopped writing, put his quill down, and for the first time since last June, gazed at Harry.

"We will see." He said after a moment bringing his gaze back to the parchment before him. Harry gaped at him. This was not what he had expected. The answer Dumbledore had just given him was the kind that meant, "I'll think about it and its most likely not going to happen." How could Dumbledore do this to him? The more Harry thought about it the more angry he got. He wanted to talk to Sirius and Dumbledore wasn't going to allow it?

"Dinner will be severed soon. Perhaps it would be best for you three to head down now." Dumbledore said, the tone in his voice showing that it was time for them to leave. Filled with anger at the headmaster, Harry walked briskly out of the office. And with a quick,

"Thank you for your time Professor," from Hermione, she and Ron followed after him.

Once they had left, Dumbledore sighed. He hated having to be like that to Harry. But it was necessary. He could not tell the boy out right, "Of course you may speak with your Godfather. I'll start making arrangements as soon as you leave." A plan to get Harry into his office without causing suspicion was already forming in his head. It had been forming while Harry and his friends were still in his office. And for it to work, Harry had to be out of the loop of what was going on. Everything had to be believable.

Then Dumbledore's thoughts turned to what Harry had said he needed to talk to Sirius about. _"I've been having these weird dreams about it. About my mum and dad."_ It could not be possible that Harry could have any clue about James be alive. And a light smile came on to Dumbledore's aged face at the thought of the irony of it all. Just before Harry had entered his office he had heard news from Sirius that he wanted to tell Harry about James, then, who should walk in asking to talk to Sirius about his father.

"Phineas, I am going to need you to give another message to Sirius."

* * *

His son could cast a Patronus; a corporeal Patronus at that, strong enough to drive away a hundred dementors at the age of thirteen. James' mind was reeling. He had not learned how to cast one until he was in Auror training, at the age of eighteen.

"What shape does it take?" James asked in an awed sort of voice, once he was able to find his voice that is. Remus chuckled.

"I'll let you find that out from him." He said.

"And when the hell will that be? I want to see my son now!" James said. Remus had been filling him in on Harry and his want, no, need, for his son was intensifying.

"Well you'll have to wait a day or two." Sirius said walking back into the kitchen and sitting down. "Dumbledore has a plan to get Harry into his office where I will be able to tell him about you. And then, once Harry finds his head, cause I'm sure that he'll lose it, you'll be able to see him."

" Why should I have to wait? Why don't I go with you?" James asked. A day was a long time, and what did Sirius mean Harry would loss his head? Sirius and Remus shared a look then Remus spoke.

"James, you have to understand that for the past fifteen years, Harry's been an orphan. People don't just wake up one day, find out that they're not orphans anymore and say, "Alright bring on my parent that's been absent for almost my whole life." It just doesn't work like that. Harry is going to need time to adjust." Remus said calmly. And, though he hated it, James had to admit that Remus had a point. As usual.

"I know, but…you guys don't get it. I lost, thought I lost, him and Lily. And I need to see him cause I feel like he's the thread that's keeping me from losing it. I need to see him. I need to see Lily's eyes again." He said running a hand through his hair, staring absently at the table in front of him.

"Dumbledore's gonna get Harry into his office tomorrow. I'll tell him then. By nightfall the soonest, then next day the most, I'm sure Harry will be ready to see you." Sirius said to James, watching his best friend closely. James just nodded his head, still staring at the table.

"_I'll see him tomorrow. I'll see him tomorrow."_ Was the thought that seemed to be playing on a broken record in James' head.

* * *

A.N- Whoa, you guys gave me 27 reviews for that one. Thanks a whole big bunches! Alright now just a few things. 1) Alright, to clear everything up, the only events that I have changed is what happened on Halloween back in the day, and what happened on Halloween in the present. Everything remains the same. Harry is in his fifth year now. 2) Now this is only for one person who really upset me but…Spelling is my weakest point. There is no way in the world that I'm going to hide that. Because of that, I use spell check like crazy, but, I still make mistakes as spell checks doesn't pick up homonyms and things like that. And I, yes I do ask for all kind of reviews, because its from you guys telling me that I made mistakes that I reread the chapter again. But really, I can_not _find the need for someone to say I'm a bad speller a nasty manner. In some reviews people have said, there was some spelling mistakes, or something along those lines and that was it. I really can't tell you how happy I was when I heard Dr. Evil tell me that I have freak'n mail, and then find someone telling me "spell check would be a good idea." I can take criticism, but not was it's given to me in a nasty manner. And if you didn't mean it in that way, then I'm sorry I took it that way.

I really sorry for all the people who are so sweet to me that you had to read that, but, its really been bothering me. Once again sorry, just had to get that out. But, now it's out of my system and I'm over it.

So please make me smile and hit that button down there.

Oh, and P.S- Harry's gonna find out about James in the next chapter so either in the next chapter, or the one after it, you'll probably find a meeting that I think every one has been waiting for.


	15. What do you mean?

Harry stared into Sirius' gray eyes unblinkingly. What Sirius had just told him could not be true, it just couldn't be. It was _Impossible_. How, how on earth could something like that be missed?

"What do you mean he was still breathing?" Harry asked in a low voice that cracked slightly from emotion. Though for Sirius it was difficult to tell which emotions.

"What I mean is that he was put into a sort of coma. His breathing rate was brought down almost to a complete stop, that's why no one noticed that he was still alive. All the signs pointed to the Killing Curse." Sirius said, speaking softly in hopes to keep Harry calm. It wasn't working though, to Sirius' great disappointment. Harry's own breathing started becoming ragged; Sirius also noticed that he was shaking a little.

"Look Harry, I can understand how you're feeling right now. I'm sure-" Sirius started to say, placing a hand on Harry's knee for reassurance only to have Harry jerk his knee away as though Sirius' hand had burned him.

"No you don't." Harry said, once again, voice cracking under emotion. "You can't have _any _idea of how or what I'm feeling right now." Then before Sirius could say anything more, Harry leaped up and ran. He ran from the sitting room in Dumbledore's office, ran from Dumbledore's office itself, ran away from the horrible lies that Sirius had been feed and was trying to feed to him. As he ran, somewhere, in one of the far corner's of his mind he wondered how the hell the day come to this.

* * *

_Earlier that day._

Harry was making his way down to breakfast alone this Saturday morning. He had not gotten much sleep the night before, and when Ron informed him that he and Hermione were going to the Great Hall, Harry said to go on with out him, hoping that he would be able to get another hours worth of sleep in. There were a few factors to Harry's lack of sleep the night before. The biggest one perhaps being his anger at the Headmaster. "We will see." Those words had rang in Harry's head over and over. In most cases, Harry would have thought in a more optimistic way about Dumbledore's statement. He would have hoped that Dumbledore meant, "We'll see what can be done" and really mean it. But now, he had taken the pessimistic view of all things concerning Dumbledore.

Dreams, or nightmares rather, were the other factor. Once again Harry had the dream about the third task and his mother. This dream was then followed by the dream about the long dark corridor ending in a black, locked door. Each time he woke from one of these dreams, more particularly the one about the third task, he had a very hard time falling back asleep again. Which resulted in not much sleep on Harry's part.

Reaching the Great Hall, Harry walked over to where Ron and Hermione were seated and plopped down across from them.

"Morning," Harry said before covering his mouth to stifle a yawn.

"Morning Harry," Hermione replied looking over at him from behind the _Daily Prophet_. "You look dead tired." Harry just nodded.

"Did Hedwig come?" He asked looking around and seeing some students with letters.

"Nope." Ron said while he pilled some bacon on his already loaded plate. Hermione eyed him with a disgusted look on her face.

"That must be about your fourth plate Ronald. Honestly, you're going to make yourself sick." She said as Ron started eating the food on his plate.

"I'm growing. I'm supposed to eat a lot." Ron said with a mouth full of food.

"I wonder what's taking Hedwig so long." Harry said in a pause in Ron and Hermione's bickering.

"Yes I was wondering that too. I'm sure she's okay though." Hermione said.

"Well I hope she comes back soon cause I want to write another letter to Snuffles." Harry said looking up at the clear blue ceiling in hopes of seeing Hedwig come flying in.

"Why don't you just use a school owl?" Ron asked, slowing his eating pace a little so not to choke while he talked.

"A school owl won't be able to reach Snuffles Ron. The house is protected, only certain owls are capable of finding it." Hermione said.

"Oh well I'm _sorry_. I wasn't aware of that Hermione." Ron said sarcastically. '_And they off again.' _Harry thought has Hermione snapped back at Ron. As their argument continued, Harry started to load food onto his own plate and allowed a smile to creep onto his face as he thought of an old Muggle saying that seemed to fit this situation very nicely.

"Merlin, you two argue like an old married couple." Harry said glancing at them s he started to eat. His statement had the desired effect. Hermione blushed and buried her face in the Daily Prophet, while Ron just looked between Harry and Hermione.

"What? Are you comparing me and Hermione to people that are…Married?" Ron spluttered out finally, a look of shock and confusion on his freckled face.

After Harry, Ron and Hermione had finished there breakfast, the former two decide to get some Quidditch in before starting in on their homework. The last part of their plan added in only after the look Hermione gave them at the thought of the whole day spent just on Quidditch. But, it was only after Ron suggested that she make some more of those hats for the House-Elves that she really get off their backs. So the three of them head back up to Gryffindor tower where Ron and Harry grabbed their brooms only to leave it again. Joking and laughing, they made their way down to the pitch.

* * *

"Ok so what's the plan again?" James' asked as he paced the floor of the kitchen. 

"Dumbledore is gonna get Harry into his office where I will be waiting in Dumbledore's sitting room. Which I have to wonder when the hell he got one of those. All those times we were in his office chatting with him and never once did he tell us he had one." Sirius rambled on. But when he noticed that James had stopped pacing and was giving him that look that said plainly "get to the point," he did just that. " Right so, get Harry into the office, I'm waiting there and then I tell him. And then depending on Harry, we come here, or he gets a good night sleep, and the next day we come here." Sirius said. James nodded and sat down. There was a moment of silence before James spoke.

"You really think that he'll flip when you tell him?" James asked. The thought that his son wouldn't be glad he was going to be apart of his life brought back a fear inside of him he hadn't felt since the day Harry was born. It was fear that he was going to be a bad father. But Lily had helped him get over that. And she wasn't here now. Forcing himself not to think about Lily, James stared at Sirius for an answer.

"Well, I can't know for sure, but yeah, I think he will. I mean, what kid wouldn't?" Sirius said from his place in front of the fireplace where he was making himself and James lunch. Nodding James asked,

"Do you know what your gonna say to him?"

"No, not really. I still have to hear what Dumbledore thinks of this whole thing, and I'll most likely just pass that along to Harry." Sirius said, stirring the contents of the cauldron hanging over the fire. Once again, James just nodded. While Sirius had his back to him, James pulled from the pocket of his robes (which was on "loan" from Sirius as wear the robes he was buried in gave more then one person the creeps) the picture of Harry from the old _Daily Prophet _thatSirius kept upstairs. At his first chance, James had dashed back up to the room, bowed to Buckbeak, and carefully ripped out the picture of his son.

As he watched his son fidget almost nervously under his gaze, James prayed that Harry would want to see him as soon as possible because Merlin knows how much he want to see him. But, in his heart, he knew that if he were in his son's place, and he were receiving this news, he wouldn't accept it either. And, after all, how many times and Sirius and Remus said that Harry was just like him?

* * *

Harry and Ron both owned wrist watches, yet in no way were their watches used in deciding when it was time to call it quits on the Quidditch pitch. No, what told them it was time to head in, was Ron stomach had begun to growl with hunger. It was long after lunch time. 

"Now, all joking aside. I'm serious Harry, don't laugh. Was that really the first few times you've tried the Wronski feint?" Ron asked as they made their way through the castle holding their brooms in one hand and a butterbeer in the other. Before they had started their way back to the common room, they made a quick stop in the kitchen where the House-Elves had insisted that they take some thing with them.

"Yes Ron." Harry said chuckling a little at how Ron was taking this. Yeah, it was a really cool move and all, but, really. _'Okay,'_ Harry thought in his head, _'Maybe it is this cool.'_

"I still can believe it." Ron said as they came to a hidden stair passage behind a painting of some old man reading a book that would take them up two floors. Harry pulled the painting aside and allowed Ron to go in a head of him. But, just as he was about to follow after Ron, Harry heard his name being called from behind him. And the way his name seemed to be spat out, he knew exactly who it was.

"_Potter_." Snape said in his usual voice full of hatred.

"_Go quick, before he gets you too."_ Harry whispered to Ron, moving his lips as little as possible so Snape wouldn't see. Letting the painting fall back into its place, Harry turned to face the greasy haired man who seemed hell bent to make his life hell. But, it wasn't just Snape, Filch was there too, wear a smug smirk on his face that told Harry he was in trouble.

"And where _Potter_ did you get that drink?" Snape asked, again spitting Harry's name out as though it were unworthy. "Because I do believe that students are not permitted into the kitchens." Harry gaped at him. Of all the things to attempt to get Harry in trouble with, Snape picked that. He was getting really low.

"Come with me Potter. It's to the Headmasters with you." Harry had to work hard to suppress the groan that was trying to make its way from him as he followed Snape. _'Great,' _he thought, '_just the man to help me. Dumbledore.'_ As he followed Snape passed Filch, Harry found himself wonder why Snape was taking him to Dumbledore. Why not just take him to his dungeon, try to scare Harry, and then just give him some more detention?

* * *

"Alright so if Harry needs to sleep on this, I'm gonna stay at Hogwarts for the night so that I'll be there when he comes round. Remus is gonna be here soon to keep you company." Sirius said to James. 

"Right." James said, rocking forward and backward slightly on his feet. " Do, do try to keep him calm. So, you know, he, er, doesn't flip. Or flip as much. Alright?" James asked, the desperation to see his son clear in his voice.

"I'll do my best Jamey-boy but I'm not making promises." Sirius said seriously even with his attempt to make light of the situation. "Well I best be off." With a small wave to James, Sirius placed a hand on the teapot and felt a jerk pull at him from behind his navel.

When his feet hit the floor Sirius found himself in a room that reminded him greatly of the Gryffindor common room. The walls were the Gryffindor red with gold moldings. The wall he faced had two large windows set into it and they were each framed with gold curtains. In front of one of these windows sat a grand mahogany desk complete with parchment, quill, and ink. On the wall adjacent with the windows there was a beautiful fireplace. The furniture that surrounded the fireplace could have been taken directly from the Gryffindor common room itself. There was a couch, a love seat, and two armchairs. All the same color red as the walls. The two walls would have pleased Remus greatly. They were lined with bookshelves. Which, in turn, were filled with books.

"Yup. Remus could live quite happily in this room." Sirius said, out loud, to himself as he examined some of the books the selves held.

"Yes I do believe that he could." A chuckling voice said from behind Sirius. Sirius nearly had a heart attack. Whipping around he said,

"Merlin, don't do that!" to a still chuckling Dumbledore who closed the door on the same wall as the bookshelves, which, Sirius had completely missed.

"I am sorry my boy. I did not mean to startle you." Dumbledore said while he walked over to one of the armchairs. As he sat down in one, he motioned Sirius to sit in the second. Sirius did so.

"James took the news well then?" Dumbledore asked as Sirius sat.

"Yeah. I'd say so." Sirius said thinking over the events leading up to and after James knew the truth about his son. "But, he still doesn't know everything. Hell he hardly knows _anything_. But me and Remus thought that it would be best for Harry to fill him in on what's happened to him since he arrived at Hogwarts." He continued.

"He is aware of Harry's residence outside of Hogwarts?" Dumbledore asked. Sirius knew that his old headmaster knew the answer to this. But he answered all the same.

"No. He doesn't." Sirius said. He felt horrible about keeping facts about his son's life from James. But, there were some things that he just had to hear from Harry. Where Harry had lived, and lives, though, Sirius was not so sure was one of them. If James had asked, Sirius would have told him. But, for whatever reason, James never asked. At present, he seemed more interested in Harry personality traits then anything else.

"I see." Dumbledore replied, interrupting Sirius' thoughts. "Well, I know that this does not answer all, if any, of the questions brought to life from this situation, but I do have an idea of what happened to James. It is my believe that James was put into a coma like state-"

"But people that are comas keep breathing and James wasn't," Sirius interrupted.

"Along with being placed into a coma, I believe that his breathing rate was slowed, to almost a complete stop. To the human eye, it would seem as though there was no breathing." Dumbledore went on as though there had been no interruption. "As I'm sure you are aware, Healers could not take the time to test ever body for a cause of death in the last war. There was no time. And in most case it was pointless. As all the signs pointed to James being killed by the Killing Curse, he was just pronounced dead." Dumbledore continued. Sirius let his head fall into his hands. All of this could have been prevented.

"What now?" Sirius asked after a few moments, bring his head out of his hands to look at the wise man sitting before him.

"To have Harry come to my office for a long period of time with Professor Umbridge becoming suspicious, I have asked Severus to bring Harry here as though he were in trouble. I must say, that she does seem to like to see that happen. For reasons quite understood." Dumbledore said calmly.

"And how do you know that Snape will really bring Harry here? He might just give him a detention and send him on his way?" Sirius asked, unhappy that Snape was part of these plans.

"Severus will bring Harry here as he is aware of the situation at hand. The members of the order that are here at Hogwarts have been informed of James' return, if it will be called that." Dumbledore said. Sirius sighed but did not answer. Now was not the time to get into another discussion about Snape's loyalties.

"And after Harry knows? What then?" Sirius asked. James could not be forced to "stay dead" that would be hell for more then him.

"I have contacted Miss Summers and she is awaiting an owl from myself.Once shereceives my owl, shewill release to the press that James Potter's body is missing. A search will commence, and she will find him in the care of some old Muggles that found him and were caring for him. His not returning to the Wizarding World will be explained by him thinking that he had lost his wife and son and he did not want to return. He will be tested, under her eye of course, and will be proven as James Potter. I will offer my serves to find out what happened to him. Fudge will not deny them, I am sure of it. A week later, I will report what I have just told you." Dumbledore said. Once he was finished with his plan of action, Sirius found himself thinking _'Wow he was busy.'_

"A lot of things could go wrong with that though." Sirius said thinking the plan over again. If Page was off by one step, someone else might find James and then what would happen? 

"You will find I'm sure, that that is the case in all plans." Dumbledore said calmly. "I do believe, as the phrase goes, this is the best that we have." Sirius opened his mouth to correct Dumbledore, but closed it thinking of how pointless it was. A knock was heard throughout the room, almost echoing around them. Dumbledore rose from his chair.

"That will be Severus and Harry. Wait here and I will send him in." Dumbledore said as he moved to the door. Sirius was temped to yell out to him not to send Harry in so soon. He hadn't even had time to think of what the hell to say to Harry. Sirius was sure that "Hey Harry how you doing? By the way, your father's alive and well," wouldn't be the best way to go. But he didn't call out to Dumbledore, he just watched him leave the room, leaving Sirius alone, sitting in the armchair.

Thinking quickly, Sirius tried to gather his thoughts. But he had made little progress before the door opened once more and a confused looking Harry came in. When Harry saw Sirius sitting there, the look of confusion intensified. Yet, there was also defiant happiness in seeing Sirius.

"Sirius!" Harry exclaimed moving forward while Sirius stood from his chair.

"Hey Harry," he said, taking a good look at his godson.

"You got my letter? I didn't think it was that big of a deal that you had to come here. Is it safe for you to even be here?" Harry asked, reaching a point in front of Sirius.

"Yeah I got your letter." Sirius replied, metal hitting himself. He had forgot to ask what Dumbledore thought about that. "But that's not why I'm here. Your scar hurting and Umbridge touching you was just a coincidence." Sirius said hoping that what he had just said was true. He was almost positive that it was. If it wasn't, Dumbledore would have brought it up.

"Oh. Well there's something else that I had to tell you. It hurt again. My scar. Yesterday. It hurt really badly. A lot worse then it did in detention. I came to Dumbledore's office yesterday to see if I could talk to you, but he kinda just blew me off." Harry said, rather fast. As Harry talked, Sirius couldn't help but think, that some day, maybe not anytime soon, but someday, Harry would go to James with things like this, not him. And surprisingly, this thought saddened Sirius slightly.

"Yeah, well that is one thing that I have learned about Albus Dumbledore, no matter who you are, he never blows you off." Sirius said, letting out his bark like laugh while sitting back down and gesturing to the other armchair for Harry to sit down. As Harry sat, Sirius saw that he was not joining in with the laughter. "As for your other concern, yes I'm safe here. Well at least in this room. I can leave as Padfoot though." He continued.

"Oh yeah, that reminds me. On the train, Malfoy made a comment to me, and I think that his dad recognized you." Harry said. Sirius waved it off.

"He probably did. Wormtail probable gave out little pictures of me or something." He said casually. There was silence for a few minutes before Harry spoke up again.

"You said that you didn't come because of my letter. What are you doing here then?" He asked while taking in the room around him. _'Merlin he could be James.'_ Sirius thought as he watched Harry.

"Well, Harry I really have no clue how to tell you this so I'm going to be blunt." Sirius said. At the tone of his voice, Harry moved his gaze from the window, which the setting sun could be seen from. Sirius ran a hand through his hair. "What I have to tell you, is about your dad, James...

* * *

_**Present**_

Sirius leaped up right after what Harry was doing fell into place in his mind. He was almost to the door of Dumbledore's sitting room when he stopped in his tracks and swore out loud. Right now, he would give his right arm just to be able to run after his godson, hug him as tightly as he could and reassure him that James was back and Sirius did have a somewhat understanding of what Harry was feeling. But he couldn't. Sure he could run after Harry. But it would have to be as Padfoot. And dogs can't hug and comfort. Sirius was also convinced that he would not be able to get Harry back into Dumbledore's office where he didn't have to be Padfoot. Sighing, and running a hand through his hair, Sirius walked over to the desk and on a blank piece of parchment, began to write a haste letter.

* * *

Harry wasn't sure how he ended up here, but here he was. Sitting on top of the Astronomy Tower. Some thing that he was sure only a Seeker could be able to do with so much ease. Who else would come to a place of this height for comfort but a Seeker? Or someone that was just born to fly, to be in the air. Maybe that was reason that he came here. Being in the sky was where he belonged and felt most comfortable, most safe. _'I wonder if Dad ever did this?' _Harry wondered some where in the back of his mind. But then he shook his head to clear away thoughts like that. He would never know if his father used to do this. His father was dead. Standing from his place next to the hatch of the tower, Harry slowly made his way over to the side. The sun was slowly setting on Hogwarts magnificent grounds, making a truly beautiful sight to be seen. 

In his heart, he bled for what Sirius had told him to be true. To have his father back, with him… Harry remembered very clearly one of the first times the want; the _need _for a parent consumed him. But he had had Sirius, and that was enough. Sirius helped. What would it be like to have a father? Again, Harry had to shake his head to rid himself of such thoughts. Dumbledore had once told him that it doesn't do to dwell on dreams, and forget to live.

Harry didn't think that Sirius was lying to him. His godfather would be pained even more so then he would at hearing a lie like this. He wasn't sure why Sirius was acting this way though.

_"I just think that he's been really lonely for a long time." _That's what Hermione had said. That Sirius was confused of who Harry was because he missed James so much. Maybe the loneliness is what made him believe that James was back. Sighing, Harry leaned over so that his elbows rested on the parapet and held his head up with his hands.

'_Why are you fighting this so hard?'_ A voice said in his head. Harry didn't have the slightest clue why he was. '_Everything that you ever wanted was there in Dumbledore's little room there. And you ran away from it.' _It was true, as a small child, he would wish that he had a father that would treat him the way Uncle Vernon treated Dudley. But could that type of relationship be had when one of them had missed out of fourteen years? Harry didn't think so.

To have what he had, what he felt, in his dream, to have that connection, that relationship, there had to be time behind it. There had to be countless nights of sitting up with Harry when he felt like he was going to throw up. Countless nights when Harry wanted to hear "just one more" story about his father's childhood had to have happened. Memories of being taught how to fly for the first time had to be there. The feeling of awkwardness from the first time he asked a question about sex and/or girls had to be there. Was it even possible to get that type of relationship with a father this late in his life? Harry didn't think so. No matter how much he wanted to.

A bark broke through Harry thoughts. Wiping a tear that he hadn't known had fallen; Harry walked over to the trap door and opened it. Standing on the highest stone step that led up to the Astronomy tower was Padfoot, who, had a letter in his mouth. At the sight of Harry, the dog gave its tail a small wag.

"Sirius I really," Harry started to say but stopped when the great black dog place the letter at Harry's feet. When Harry did not move for it, the dog gave the letter a little nudge with it's noise, looked up at Harry, and with big, wide eyes that seemed to speak a hundred words turned and walked back down the stone steps. Harry looked down at the letter then picked it up and turned and walked back over to the parapet. He looked at the letter for a few seconds then opened it slowly.

_Harry,_

_That was really unfair of you to run out like that when you know that I can't follow you. Harry, yes you are right, I _can't _have any idea of what you're going through. I never lost a father and then had him given back to him. Truth be told, I wish that I had lost my father. But I do have an understanding. I lost James too. He wasn't my father, as he is to you, but he was, and is, my brother. And I lost him. But he's back now. All the doubt, the want, and the fear that I'm sure your feeling, I felt it all too._

_Again though, I don't know everything that you're feeling right now. How can I? But I want to. James wants to see you naturally, but he can wait, and he will wait until you're ready to see him. I am going to be staying in the room you met me in. If at any time, day or night, you want to talk to me, that's where I'll be. The password is Ice Mice. Please Harry, come and talk to me. There is a lot that we have to cover and I can't begin to fit it in this letter._

_Sirius_

* * *

A.N- Well, Harry knows now. Next chapter is the meeting. I was really going to try to get it into this chapter but obviously, Harry has got some issues to work out before hand so, sorry but you guys gotta wait one more chapter. Ok now I meant to ask this in my last A.N but I was rushing to get it posted and I forgot. Is there anyone out there who would like to be my Beta? I think this chapter might show my need for one. (I'm running out of time to reread the chapters for a fifth time) If you do just let me know in your review andleave your email address so I can contact you. Thanks a lot. 

I know that I say it all the time, but I really, really need your reviews this time! I'm kinda shaky on how I feel about this chapter. I wanted it to be different from other stories but; I don't know if I was able to pull it off. And just,I don't know. LikeI said, I'm shaky.So please, please, please let me know what you guys think! Because I _love _hearing what people are thinking of this story.Right so, I think that's about it. Hit that button and make me smile!

Oh and to two of my reviewers,

Myssi Ford- I know what you mean about Chem, and with all my heart I agree with you. lol.

Papertazuna-Man, you're gonna make my ego get so big I can't walk through door ways. But thank you, thank you, thank you all the same. Your reviews really make me smile.

Till next chapter then.

P.S- I'd love you guys forever if you got me to 200 reviews. Hint. Hint.


	16. What do I call him?

Once Sirius was finished with his hasty letter, he changed into Padfoot, grabbed the letter in his mouth, left Dumbledore's office, sniffed the air, and started following his godson's scent. He followed Harry's scent all the way to the Astrometry tower. _'Figures' _Sirius thought as he began to clime the stone steps that led to the trap door that would bring you out onto one of Hogwarts tallest towers. As he was still a dog, opening the trap door was out of the question. Thinking, or knowing rather, that Harry would not be leaving the tower for some time, Sirius had to make Harry aware of his presence. Setting down the letter, he gave off one short, yet reasonably loud, bark, picked the letter back up, and wait for his godson to respond.

Sirius didn't have to wait long. He looked at his godson's face as he pulled the trap door open. Harry had been crying. Looking at him no one would be able to tell, his face in fact looked quite impassive. But, very few people were aware that tears had a smell to them, and, through experience, Sirius had learned what tears smelled like. They had a kind of salty smell to them, faint, but very distinct. He would not let on that he knew though. Instead of transforming back into the teenage boy's godfather, who for a short time period tried to serve as a father figure, Sirius gave his tail a small wag.

"Sirius I really," Harry started to say, but Sirius couldn't let him finish. He couldn't be aloud to keep running away from this. Before Harry could finish, Sirius placed the letter at Harry's feet. Harry didn't move to pick it up; he had to pick up this letter Sirius thought as he watched Harry stare at the letter. Nudging it with his snout, Sirius looked back up at his godson. _'Come on Harry. Read the damn letter. You gotta read it kid come on.' _Knowing that Harry wouldn't be ready to talk until after he read the letter and had time to sort through his thoughts, Sirius turned around and went back down the stone steps, heading back to Dumbledore's office.

As he made his way down the steps, a memory, which had been close to being forgotten forever came bobbing to the surface of his mind.

* * *

Flashback 

It was nearing midnight, and it was the first time ever that James, Sirius, and Peter would be keeping Remus company during his transformations. Sirius, James and Peter had used James invisibility cloak to get through the castle undetected. The very second that they had reached outside Sirius had thrown the cloak off and transformed into a great black dog. Laughing, James followed Sirius lead and transformed into a grand stag. The stag brought its head down so its antlers were level with the dog, who at the time was chasing its tail, and gabbed the dog playfully with it's antlers. The dog spun around and began to growl, also playfully, at the stag who was snorting in what could only be called laughter.

"Guys," said a panicky whisper that seemed to come from thin air, "be careful. What if we get caught?" Peter asked, his voice squeaking a little. The dog and the stag looked at each other and seemed to roll their eyes before the stag took off down the steps. "James, wait for me!" Peter's voice said. Sirius moved to follow James and Peter but after putting one paw on the first step he stopped and stayed where he was. When James saw that Sirius wasn't with them, he transformed back into a teenager.

"Sirius, what the hell's the matter with you? Come on, we gotta go!" James yelled up to his best friend. Sirius also transformed back, and to James surprise, ran down the front steps. James watched on in wonder as his best friend reached him.

"Bloody steps are really steep when you're a dog. Kinda freaky trying to go down them. Feels like your gonna fall down them." Sirius said. As he was Sirius' best friend, James started laughing hysterically as only a best friend could. The thought Sirius felt going down steps seemed "kinda freaky" brought tears to James' eyes, and not in the sentimental kind of way. After his confession Sirius transformed back into a dog and ran as fast as he could toward the Whomping Willow so that he wouldn't hear James laughing at him. It was a useless though, his canine hear let him hear ever gasp for breath James took.

* * *

Present 

Sirius wasn't even aware that he had reached the gargoyle that led to Dumbledore's office; he had been so lost in his memory. A Memory that should have been shared with Harry years ago, Sirius thought sadly. _'But he'll hear it soon. He'll hear all of them soon,'_ Sirius thought to himself, the thought seemed to be more of a demand then anything else. It was as though he were telling himself that everything would work out. After taking a quick look around Sirius transformed back into a man, said "Ice Mice", then transformed back into a dog as the gargoyle sprang to life and move aside. Slowly, Sirius made his way onto the moving stairs. True, Dumbledore's office was ten hundred times better then Grimmauld Place, but Sirius hated being stuck anywhere for long amounts of time. Even more so when he was anxious about something. And boy was he anxious about this whole situation. Outside of Dumbledore's office Sirius stopped and listened carefully for the sounds of voices inside. After hearing none, Sirius scratched the door with one of his paws. Even if they weren't talking, there could still be someone in the room. The door opened on its on accord.

"Ah, Sirius. I took the sight of Harry running from my office as a sign that all did not go well." Dumbledore said from behind his desk, which was, as usual, covered with pieces of parchment. "You may show yourself, we are alone." He added.

"Yeah, Harry didn't take it well." Sirius said sitting none to gracefully into one of the chairs in front of Dumbledore's desk. "I wrote him a letter telling him to come whenever he felt comfortable, that we still had to talk. Whenever meaning at anytime. I hope that's alright." Sirius said, rubbing his eyes tiredly.

"Yes I do believe that is fine. I shall continue my work in my bed chamber." Dumbledore said as he started to gather some of his parchments together.

"Oh no, your good for now. I don't think that Harry will be coming anytime soon. I was thinking at like maybe two in the morning or some time like that." Sirius said.

"I do believe that I have really reached old age when I find myself wondering how on earth a child can stay up that late." Dumbledore said, eyes twinkling.

"I'm glad to see that you're taking this whole thing well." Sirius said dryly.

"I am sorry my boy," Dumbledore said. "But, I have been watching Harry grow since he first arrived at Hogwarts. And I believe it is safe to say that he will come around. There will be hesitation around James for a short time it pains me to say though. But it will pass, and I am finding it hard to find any other students that have walked through these doors of Hogwarts, who deserve this more than our two Mr. Potters." Dumbledore said calmly. Sirius could only nodded at the truth in Dumbledore's words.

"I'm gonna head back into your little sitting room and get some much needed shut eye." Sirius said rising and stretching.

"Would you like me to transfigure the couch into a bed for you?" Dumbledore asked.

"No thanks, I think I'll be fine." Sirius said with a small chuckle as he thought that since he was able to transform his body into a dog he better be able to transfigure a damn couch. Sirius made his way slowly to Dumbledore's sitting but stopped when Dumbledore called out to him.

"Sirius, I was just wondering if Harry spoke with you at all about anything to do with last June before you told him that James out of his coma state?" Dumbledore asked lacing his long white fingers together. Sirius' brow furrowed.

"No, we really didn't talk before I told him. Why?" Sirius asked moving back over to Dumbledore's desk.

"When he came to me yesterday asking to speak with you he said that he need to speak with you about last June, he said that he had been having dreams about Lily and James. It did not seem as though he were lying. I was merely curious." Dumbledore said stroking this long white beard thoughtfully. Sirius frowned slightly.

"I'll ask him about it when he comes round." Sirius said, wondering what Harry would have to talk to him about June and his parents. Just as he was about to head into the sitting room again when he stopped, a sudden thought came crashing to him. "Sir, I'm going to have to send some kind of word to James so he wont be waiting up all night." Sirius said, the image of his friend sitting up all night to see his son flashing, painfully, in front of Sirius' eyes.

"Of course. You can use Fawkes to send your letter. He does seem to want to see James very much." Dumbledore added as Fawkes flew right over to Sirius at once and settled himself on Sirius' shoulder. Sirius gave a nod of good night to Dumbledore and continued his way into the sitting room. When Sirius first walked into the sitting room it was completely dark except for the flickering light that was being given off from the roaring fire in the fireplace, which must have been set soon after he left the room. Sirius opened his mouth to call out to Dumbledore to ask if there were lanterns or something in the room, but before he could make a sound, the room became a light. Torches lining the walls, the almost ceiling in the case of the walls with the bookshelves, had all lit just as he thought about lighting them. Shaking his head at how Hogwarts still amazed and surprised him, Sirius made his way over to the desk to write a letter to James.

* * *

Remus had arrived very shortly after Sirius had left Grimmauld place. When he entered the kitchen, he found one of his best friends a nervous wreck. Five minutes could not pass without James running a hand through his hair and gazing at the fireplace. He would continue to talk to Remus has usual, but the pattern went on and on. 

"Prongs, calm down. Everything is going, and is fine." Remus said calmly when he finally couldn't take it anymore. Sirius had left around six thirtyish. It was now nine thirty. James who had been again staring at the fireplace turned to face Remus.

"Yeah I know. I just, I mean this whole thing is just so weird!" James managed to get out. "Things were _not_ supposed to be like this. I mean, just look at us Moony. You're what thirty-five? I'm scarcely out of my bloody teens. My son is seven years younger then me! If I'm ever able to leave this bloody place, when we go out in public you know what people will say? 'Gosh young man, you look so much like your brother.' I'll be taken as his _brother_. And what if he starts to see me as his older brother? Not as a father? I don't want that!" James spilled out, letting most of his fears and worries be known to Remus. After his little rant, James was left a little breathless. As he sat there trying to get his breathing rate back to normal, Remus just watched him.

"Any better?" Remus asked once James seemed fully calm. After James gave a small nod Remus continued. "I know that this is not how thing are suppose to be James, believe me, I know. And yes, the age difference is odd all around. But maybe it will help Harry talk to you." Remus said.

"But that's what's killing me most of all," James said with a small sigh, rubbing the grubby table's edge with his thumb. "Harry shouldn't need help in talking to me." Before Remus could respond there was a burst of fire in the air and a piece of parchment fell onto the table. Along with the parchment, a beautiful phoenix was gently beating its wings in the air just where the fireball was. But, at the sight of James, he flew right over to him and settled himself on James' knee.

"Fawkes?" James asked the phoenix as Remus got up from his seat to retrieve the parchment. In answer, Fawkes gave off one beautiful note. That was enough for James. He started gently stoking the phoenix's feathers while he looked up at Remus.

"Here, its for you. Its from Sirius." Remus said handing over the parchment, which James nearly leaped out of his chair to get.

_James,_

_I talked to Harry, he knows that your back. Or he thinks he knows that I'm nuts. Before I could fully explain everything he ran. And cause he ran, I don't even know what he's having a hard time accepting. I don't know if he believes me and is having a hard time coming to terms or if he doesn't believe me at all. I'm going to have to wait till he comes round. Which will hopefully be soon. I'm really sorry James, I tried. But try to see it from Harry's way and have patience's. He'll come round._

_Sirius._

James must read the letter through five times very quickly before he really grasped what Sirius had written. Harry had flipped, just like Sirius said that he would. Having already put himself in Harry position he understood it and respected it, but he was still upset that he wouldn't be seeing his son that night. Not even thinking about it, James mutely handed Remus the letter to read. Remus read the letter silently, while James returned to stroking Fawkes.

"Well this was expected wasn't it?" Remus ventured after a few moments pause.

"Expected, yes. Wanted, not a chance." James said dryly. Remus opened his mouth to say something but stopped when someone came bounding into the kitchen.

"You two should be right proud of me. Didn't trip over that damn umbrella stand this time," Tonks, who had decided on a orange hair color today, said as she made her way to the table, competently unaware that the man sitting at the table wasn't Sirius. But her unawareness didn't last for long though. At the sight of James she jumped back and started to say "Harry, what are you-" but when she realized that it wasn't Harry sitting there she pulled out her wand and pointed it at James. James and Remus both watched the whole thing in silence. It wasn't until she pulled out her wand that Remus spoke up.

"Tonks, I'd like you to meet James Potter. And James, do you remember Sirius' little cousin Dora?"

* * *

He wasn't sure how, but somewhere between all the thoughts that were running through his head, Sirius had some how managed to fall asleep on the couch. Yes, the couch. Once he had sent Fawkes off with his letter to James, Sirius had turned to the task of transfiguring the couch into a bed. Which, did not go as well as he had hoped. As the key part of transfiguration is concentration, Sirius found that he shouldn't have laughed when Dumbledore offered his help. With thoughts so full of, well everything, Sirius only managed to make the three separate cushions of the couch, one long cushion. He was thank full that he didn't have to attempt to conger up a blanket and pillow as a House-elf came in and left him some just as he raised his wand. But, all in all, the real surprise for Sirius wasn't that his magic was off, or that the House-elves were seemingly watching him, it was that when he awoke (quite unexpectedly) he found that he wasn't alone. 

"James what the bloody hell are you doing here?" Sirius said, voice heavy from tiredness. James was sitting on top of the desk watching the sunrise out of the window. Even though James' back was to Sirius, Sirius could see that James was sitting with his legs cris-crossed on top of the desk, a typical James sitting style. Sirius tried to sit up, but ended up just laying back down. Being up for sunrise was something that Sirius only liked to do if he was up all night doing one of his three favorite things. One, talking about what just happened during the full moon adventure of that month, two, pulling a prank, and three, having… well lets just say that he hadn't done any of the three in a very long time. When James didn't answer him Sirius spoke again.

"Look, Harry just wasn't ready to see you yet. I told you that he probable wouldn't be." Sirius said while lying on his back and trying to keep his eyes open. Once again, James didn't answer him. Peeking one eye open, Sirius looked at his friend. "There's nothing that I can do know you know. I can't go and fetch him for you. All he needs is some time to think it over." Sirius brought a hand to his face and rubbed it, hopping to rid himself of some of his tiredness. James, still, didn't respond. This was very unJames-like. Sirius pulled himself up off the couch and started to make his way to his best friend. He stood to the side of the desk and joined James in looking at the sunrise. He opened his mouth and turned to talk to James some more but leaped back when he saw that it wasn't James. Just as he turned to look at him, 'James' turned to face him as well. But it wasn't hazel eyes that Sirius met it was green. "Bloody hell Harry!" Sirius yelled, clutching his heart, which was beating a hundred times per second.

"So you do then." Harry said, gazing at his godfather. Sirius, who was bent double trying to get his heart rate back to normal looked up at Harry.

"So I do what?" Sirius asked. He hoped that he hadn't given off that he wasn't glad that Harry was there when he yelled. He really was glad. It was just that he thought that he had been speaking to James, and, well he wasn't.

"You do get me and my dad mixed up. You do have a hard time in whether I'm my dad or not. And that's why you think that he's back." Harry said as calmly as someone would explain that one and one is two. Sirius slowly shook his head.

"No Harry, no. I mean, yeah I just mistook you for James but not, you know you look so much like him. And sitting like that," Sirius tried to say but stopped when he realized that he wasn't being informative, he was being confusing. "Harry, yes I mistook you for James just now but, not for the reason your thinking." Sirius said.

"Hermione says that you're really lonely, and that's why you don't know the difference." Harry said, returning his gaze to the sunset. He spoke as though Sirius hadn't said anything.

"Harry stop." Sirius said, placing his hands on Harry's knees and spinning him around so that Harry was facing him instead of the window. "Please, Harry listen to me, alright? I'm not nuts. I'm not saying that James is back because I want him to be, or I think he's you. If I was nuts and making this all up do you think that Dumbledore would let you speak to me? Do you think he would have let me going on believe that? What about Lupin? You think that he would let me keep thinking that?" Sirius said looking into Harry's eyes. "Well?" Sirius pressed lightly when Harry wouldn't answer. Not meeting his gaze, Harry let out a small sigh and gave and equally small nod of the head. "Then why wont you believe me?" Sirius asked.

"Because…" Harry started, looking out of the window instead of at Sirius. Sirius could see that there were circles under Harry's eyes from lack of sleep. "Because things like this don't happen. People don't come back from the dead." Harry said finally.

"You're right Harry people don't. James didn't though, I told you that last night. Voldemort didn't kill him. He just put James into a coma." Sirius said softly, Harry was starting to come around. He was running out of reasons to fight this, Sirius could tell.

"But why? Why didn't he kill him? Voldemort isn't the type to take prisoners." Harry said meeting Sirius' gaze. _'Got him'_ Sirius thought.

"Your dad was a threat to Voldemort. And believe it over not, Voldemort wanted him to be a death eater." Sirius said. Harry's eyes widened at the last part. Sirius gave a humorless chuckle. "Yeah, stupid thought right? Well he did, for whatever reason. So it seems that Voldemort asked James again that night to join him, and become a death eater. James of course said no. Then Voldemort got the idea that James' decision might change if everyone James cared about was killed. You gotta remember Harry that he went there that night not thinking that you would stop him. He thought that some time after he kill you and your mum, that he would get Remus and me. Then, some time later, the rest of the order. You heard over the summer how Voldemort and the death eaters were picking the order off one by one. Everyone that James would have cared about Voldemort was planning on killing." Sirius said. Harry listened, looking at Sirius with wide eyes. They were both silent as Harry searched his godfathers face. Finding nothing but hope and truthfulness, Harry looked back out of the window.

"I can't believe this." Harry emitted softly. Sirius smiled, just as softy as Harry had spoken.

"Yeah I know kid." Sirius said watching Harry closely. There was again silence between them.

"Your really, really sure that its him though right? He's not gonna turn out to be a death eater right?" Harry asked, voice going back to sounding how it usually did. Sirius chuckled a little.

"Yes Harry. I'm sure that it's him." Sirius said. Harry just nodded. Then,

"But, I mean, couldn't Wormtail have told some death eaters how to act like him?" Harry asked.

"Yes, he could have," Sirius started and Harry's head snapped up. "But he didn't. James was asked things that only James could know the truth about. Believe me. Only James would have known that…" Sirius trailed off thinking now was not the best time to get into more of his relationship with his family.

"So, now what?" Harry asked after seeing that Sirius was not going to carry on with whatever James knew that no one else would.

"Well, I was thinking that maybe we could go to Grimmauld Place and see him." Sirius said, trying to sound casual. Harry's eyes widened.

"Now?" Harry asked.

"Well, it doesn't have to be right now." Sirius said, unsure of what Harry's wide eye reaction was implying. "You could get some sleep cause it looks like you didn't get any last night. Or you and me could talk some more about anything you want. Or you can go down to breakfast and come back up here around lunch, or" Sirius said, rambling on and on.

"Can we eat in here?" Harry asked. He was starving and breakfast wouldn't be in the Great Hall for another hour or two.

"Sure." Sirius said looking around the room. "Now last night the House-elves just came in when I wanted a blanket so maybe now," He stopped when none other then Dobby appeared out of thin air in front of them. Harry slid to the edge of the desk and hopped off, having a feeling of what might be coming.

"Would Sirs like some breakfast?" Dobby asked bowing to them before seeing Harry and yelling "Harry Potter!" and running straight to Harry and hugging him around the knees.

"Hello Dobby," Harry said as he tried to keep standing after being hit by the sudden force that was Dobby. "Can you just bring us up a whole bunch of breakfast stuff?" Harry asked the elf. Dobby nodded his head violently and said,

"Of course Harry Potter." Then with a snap of his fingers, the desk that Harry had been sitting on was filled with food. "If Sirs need Dobby again, just call for him, and I will come." Dobby said with one last bow before Disapparate. Sirius watched as Harry grabbed one of the plates that had been left also and started loading it up with everything.

"Hungry?" Sirius asked. Harry only nodded as he had just stuffed some toast that couldn't fit on his plate into his mouth. Having completely filled his plate, Harry moved to the side so Sirius could get some food. Walking carefully so not to spill any of his food Harry made his way over to the couch. He seemed to be doing everything in a sort of surreal state. A state of shock maybe. Cause, this was all just too much. James Potter really was back. He had a father now.

Yet, there was a state of Harry's mind that was still unsure of this all. This was just a childhood wish and dream. And, those never really come true for Harry. _'That's not true. You got away from the Dursley's. You got away and came to Hogwarts.' _A voice in Harry's mind said. Which was true. It was a wish of his to leave the Dursley's, but had he really accomplished that? Harry believed that this summer was proof that he had not. As Harry sat, still trying to sort through his thoughts and emotions, Sirius studied his godson from the spot he had taken in one of the armchairs after getting his own food. Then suddenly, a thought came to him.

"Harry," Sirius started. "When you came to Dumbledore yesterday or I guess by now it would be two days ago, you told him that you wanted to speak with me about last June. He said that you told him that you had been having dreams about your mum and dad." Sirius said. Harry looked at him for a second before he remembered what Sirius was talking. Was it really only two days ago? It felt so much longer then that.

"Yeah. On the way to his office Ron, Hermione and me had came up with a reason to give to him but I forgot it. And that was the first thing that popped into my head." Harry said. Then, thinking of what he had told Dumbledore, thinking about the dreams he had been having, something in Harry's mind clicked. "He never came out of Voldemort's wand." Harry said quietly, he seemed to be talking to himself more then Sirius. But Sirius heard anyways.

"What was that Harry?" Sirius asked as he bit into a sausage. Harry looked up at him.

"I've been having weird dreams about the third task. Different ones then I've had over the summer. In these, I see my mum coming out of Voldemort's wand. But, dad never does. And, and mum says that he wont." Harry said eyes cast down to the floor, but the movement that Sirius could see in Harry's green eyes showed that he was thinking fast. And so was Sirius.

"Harry how come you didn't tell us sooner?" Sirius asked. If they had known this soon, surly Dumbledore would have found it odd and looked into it. Then, they might have found James sooner, or under better circumstances at the least. Harry just shrugged and brought his gaze back up to Sirius.

"I just thought that there wasn't anytime for dad to come out." Harry said. Really, at the time, it didn't seem that big of a deal. But what a big deal it was.

Neither of them spoke again until they had both filled up as much as possible on the food Dobby had given them. Standing and stretching, Sirius started voicing the "speech" he had made up while they were eating. The speech wasn't really a speech; it was just what he was planning on telling Harry to get him to come back to Grimmauld Place with him to see James.

"So, Harry." Sirius said, raising his arms above his head and stretching them toward the ceiling. "Do you want to grab a change of clothes, come back and then we'll go see James?" Sirius asked, trying to sound casual again. Little did he know Harry had been making his own plan as well in that silence. He was still spilt down the middle about the whole situation. Yes, he accepted that James Potter was indeed alive. But his feelings were all still in a jumble. And, for now, he just wanted to put off this meeting until him could work just one particular concern. A big concern of his.

"Well, I haven't seen Ron and Hermione since yesterday, their probably worried about me. I was thinking that I should hang around Gryffindor Tower till they wake up and explain some things to them." Harry said. He saw that as he spoke, Sirius had a small frown start to cross over his face. Sirius let his arms drop to his side and gave a small sigh before sitting next to Harry on the couch.

"Harry, please, try to see things from your dad's side. He thought that you and your mum were dead. And that nearly pushed him over the edged. Ever since he found out that you're alive, all he's wanted to do is come to Hogwarts and see you." Sirius said, slowly and softly. He didn't want to let Harry know how almost over the edge James went, but he wanted him to know that it was close. "Please, you don't have to run into his arms for a hug, or anything like that. Just talk to him. He doesn't know anything about what's happened to since he died Harry." As Sirius said this, Harry's eyes widen. "Yeah, I know. That's a lot. He doesn't know about the Dursleys, he doesn't know about anything that you've done since you got to Hogwarts. Nothing Harry. He only knows that you were in the Tri-Wizard tournament and that your one hell of a Quidditch player." Sirius went on. "He knows that your brave and a great kid, but that's it. So all I'm asking is that you come with me and talk to him." Sirius pleaded slightly. The last thing that he wanted to do was pressure Harry, but, he knew James, and he knew that James needed to see his son. Harry studied Sirius closely. Sirius could see in his eyes that he really didn't want to go.

"Alright." Harry said at last in a quite voice. "I'll get changed, and just leave a note for Ron to tell him not to worry." Harry said while standing. Sirius saw that Harry wouldn't meat his eyes.

"I'll be here." Sirius said, and watched as Harry made his way out of the sitting room.

* * *

Remus had always been an early riser. It was just an odd habit of his. It was because of this habit that he was sitting alone in the kitchen on Sunday morning. After reassuring Tonks over and over again that James was really James, they had all spent the night catching James up with changes that had been made in the Ministry. And since Fudge came to power, there had been a lot of changes. Even more so recently with everything going on. James and Tonks had one particularly long discussion about changes made to the Auror sector. 

From discussing the Ministry, the topic turned to the Order. Both new and old were talked of. James wanted to know what everyone from the original Order did after the war and who the new members were. It was then that James learned about what happened to Frank and Alice Longbottem. Having gone to Hogwarts with the pair of them, and then worked with them outside of Hogwarts, James was very close to Frank and Alice, and felt considerable pain upon learning of their fate. Not much in the mood for talking after that, James turned in early. Though Remus was sure that it would be hours before he really fell asleep.

Sighing, Remus rose from his seat to make himself another cup of tea. This would be his third that morning. But, just as he made to put the kettle over the fire, he heard a noise behind him and turned to face Sirius and Harry. Remus smiled at the sight of Harry. Sirius had gotten him to come. Harry, seeing Remus standing there, tried to return the smile, but nervousness only aloud for a small grin of hello.

" 'Low Remus," Sirius said, smiling as well. He took a look around the kitchen and said, "James still sleeping?"

"Yes. Want me to go and wake him?" Remus asked, as he said it, he got the feeling that maybe he shouldn't have. Harry got a look on his face as if everything was happening to fast. But, with Sirius to his side, Sirius couldn't see Harry's face and gave Remus an answer.

"Sounds like a plan." Sirius said, finally turning to look at Harry. He had still been wearing a smile when he turned to look at Harry, but after seeing how nervous Harry looked, it started to fade. He looked back up at Remus who was still standing in the same spot and gave a nod. With one last glance between Harry and Sirius, Remus left the kitchen to wake James. Once Remus had left Sirius spoke to Harry.

"There is nothing to be nervous about Harry." Sirius said softly and calmly.

"Easy for you to say," Harry snapped. His heart rate was speeding up and he felt like spiriting of to the fire and Flooing out of here as fast as he could. He still hadn't found an answer to the question that he most wanted answered. Hearing footsteps coming down stairs from somewhere in the house, Harry's panicking started to increase. "Sirius," he said quickly.

"Yeah Harry?" Sirius asked, watching Harry grow more and more nervous and half wishing that he had let Harry stall at Hogwarts a little longer.

"Sirius, what should I call him?" Harry asked quietly, looking up at Sirius with wide eyes. Sirius opened his mouth to say 'dad' but Harry carried on, talking quickly. "Cause, I mean, well, I always thought that dad was a special name and, well I don't even know him." Harry said. Sirius heard his mother's portrait started screaming and knew that James would be in the kitchen in a matter of seconds.

"Try not to call him anything for now and we'll talk later." Sirius said. He barely finished when the door opened. Harry had his back facing the door, but at the sound of it opening, he visible tensed. Looking over Harry's head, Sirius saw James standing in the doorway, staring at Harry. Sirius couldn't hear his mother's shots and assumed that Remus had managed to pull her curtains shut. Both Potter's seemed to be frozen, James in the doorway, and Harry with his back to the doorway. Knowing that something had to be said, Sirius cleared his throat.

"Harry," Sirius said, placing his hands on Harry's shoulders. Harry looked up at him with terrified eyes, knowing what was coming. "There's someone that I think you should meet." Sirius said gently, turning Harry around so that he was facing James. "Harry, meet your dad. James Potter."

James nearly fell over. He could have cried out with joy. After waiting for so long, he was finally seeing his son. His baby boy and grown up so beautifully. Just like Lily and him had wished for. From seeing the picture of Harry, he knew that Harry looked so much like him, but seeing it in person was something else. But, James was just so glad to see that he really did have Lily's beautiful eyes, the one thing that James had prayed his child would have. Beside health and happiness of course. _'Oh god Lily. You should see him. He's so grown up.'_ James though, eyes scanning Harry franticly. Not able to take not holding his son anymore, James moved forward to grab Harry into a hug and tell him how sorry he was for not being there for everything. And tell him that he was here now, and that he would make everything that was wrong in his life better. And that he would never leave Harry again. But, James had just moved his foot one step forward, when Harry moved one step back.

With Sirius standing directly behind him, Harry really had no place to go. And, really, he wasn't trying to get away. It was just a reaction of being in a strange, and slightly scary situation. But it was a strong reaction. When Harry took his step back, he bumped into Sirius a little, and Sirius had placed a hand on Harry's shoulder. Both movements, Harry's step away even more so, dug deeply into James' heart. '_He doesn't even know you, its nothing personal, James. It's nothing personal. He's probably scared out of his wits about this whole thing.' _James thought to himself as he tried not to cry at the hurt he felt. He tried to go to his son and his son backed way and needed reassurance, which never should have been needed.

"Why don't we sit down?" Sirius asked in a slightly strained voice. This was not going well. Neither one of them had said a word. Though, Harry's step back from James seemed to have spoken a thousand words in it's self. Mutely, James slowly made his way to a chair. He took slow steps, as if to show Harry that he was moving toward the table and not him. James wanted Harry to trust him, and the only way for that to happen was for things to go slow. However much it hurt James, Harry came first. Repeating over and over in his head that this was necessary, James sat down. After watching James for a little bit, Harry took a seat on the other side of the table. Sirius sat down next to Harry, thinking that if he made a run for it, he would be able to stop him.

Again, both Potters were silent as they took each other in, each in there own way. James was still scanning Harry desperately, as though to make sure that he really was him, that the teenage boy sitting, painfully so far away from him, was really his baby. Harry however was taking James in cautiously. So this was his father, Harry thought as he looked at James. When people had told him that he looked like his father, Harry use to think that they must have had the same nose or hair or something. It wasn't until Harry saw the pictures of his parents that Hagrid had given him that he really knew what people were talking about. Even now, Harry saw that one of the few differences between them was height. Sirius looked from James to Harry and opened his mouth to say something, as he felt that nothing would be said other whys, when the kitchen door opened.

"Sirius," Remus said, poking his head in the room. "Can you come out here, Dumbledore has a message for you." Remus said, looking over at James and Harry, which only the latter of the pair seemed to have even noticed Remus entering. Even with only a head inside the room, Remus could feel the tension. When Remus asked Sirius to leave the room, Harry immediately turned to look at his godfather, pleading with his eyes for Sirius not to leave the room. It was not that Harry didn't want to get to know James; he just didn't want to be alone with him so soon. Even with Sirius in the room it was awkward, without Sirius, Harry couldn't even imagine. Knowing that both Dumbledore and Remus would not ask him to leave this situation unless it was very important, Sirius nodded to Remus and rose from his chair.

"We'll be upstairs if you two need us." Sirius said to both of them, though he was looking at Harry. James had yet to take his eyes off his son.

"There's tea in the kettle if you want any also," Remus put in, now seeing Harry's pleading eyes following Sirius as he made his way to the door. When Sirius reached the door, Remus took a step back so he could get out. With on last glance at James and Harry, Sirius stepped out of the room and closed the door.

"What's Dumbledore's message?" Sirius asked as they made their way up the stairs.

"It seems that we might have to announce James' return sooner then we thought." Remus said.

Back in the kitchen, there was still silence. Harry had given up at looking at James; he got this weird feeling in his stomach. Yet James seemed to have no problems. Being unable to do anything else, and as he hated being stared at, Harry got up and went over to the stove to get himself some tea. He had to have something to do while James just stared, who knew how long it would be till Sirius got back and made some small talk? Harry certainly wasn't going to start any, and it seemed as though James had lost either the will or the ability to talk. But, as Harry placed a hand on the kettle, he deiced that he didn't want tea, he wanted Butterbeer, so putting the kettle back down he started opening some cabinets in search for some Butterbeer. Every thing done with his back to James.

James watched his son, every step that Harry took, and every breath that Harry seemed to take, James took note of. When Harry stared opening cabinets, James briefly wondered what he was doing. Then a voice that sounded a lot like Sirius' said _'He's just like you James'_, and a thought came to him. Deciding to test it out, James pulled his wand out of his robes and said "_Accio Butterbeer!" _Two Butterbeers came out of the cabinet farthest from Harry and flew over to the table and landed in front of James. Harry had frozen at the sound of his father's voice. _'So that's what my dad sounds like when he's not preparing to die,' _Harry thought somewhere, far, far in the back of his mind. The only time that he had heard James' voice was he was learning to fight dementors in his third year. James had yelled to Lily to take Harry and run, and that he would hold Voldemort off.

"Do, you, er, I mean, were you looking for Butterbeer?" James asked from behind Harry, voice sounding unsure. Harry spun around. Still sitting at the table, James had a look on his face that mingled between shock (maybe at having actually spoken) and hope. Harry couldn't place where the hope was come from, but nodded any way, wondering how James had known. He smiled at Harry's nod. "I was the same way when ever I was uncomfortable. I also had to have something to do with my hands." He said, picking up a bottle and holding it out for Harry to take. For a moment, Harry hesitated, and then he slowly moved closer. But only close enough to take the bottle that James was holding out for him. Once he took the bottle from James, Harry moved back to his seat across the table. He was surprised at how much he had to hold back a reply of "really?" when James had said that he was just like Harry. Eyes down to the table, Harry opened his Butterbeer and took a sip. He still had yet to say a word since James had entered the kitchen. And James longed to hear what Harry's voice sounded like. Knowing that the only way to get Harry to talk was by asking questions, James asked one of the many that were burning to be asked.

"So, tell me what were the tasks that you had to go through in the Tri-Wizard Tournament?" James asked. Not one of the really important questions, or a question a father should ask his son after not seeing him in fourteen year, but, they had to break the ice with something. At the mention of the Tri-Wizard Tournament, flashes of it past through Harry's mind. The first task, the second, and then the third. Looking up at James, and meeting his eyes, somewhere in the back of Harry's mind, a nasty voice said _'Lets tell him. Lets tell him the hell I went through cause he wasn't there.' _While, seemingly, at the same time, another voice, just as distant as the first seemed to say, _'Tell him up to the third, and just that I did well. Leave the bad parts out for now. Maybe he'll be proud.' _Whichever voice he was listening to, Harry wasn't sure, but still looking into the eyes of his father, Harry, unsure of where on earth he had found his voice, said,

"Well, for the first task, we had to get this golden egg from a dragon, a nesting mother…"

* * *

A.N- Well, there you have it. Father and Son have now met. And, a nice and long chapter too. Do you like it? Please, please tell me! I hope that it doesn't seem like a dragged it out, that's a fear of mine. What a chapter for me to feel nervous about, eh? I'm so sorry that it took sooo long to get this out but I wanted it to feel just right, so I went slow, which, I'm sorry for. And, even though I went slowly, I still have my doubts. But please, please, please, drop me a review for this chapter. I love you guys soo much for the 223 reviews, you guys have no idea what that means to me. Again, tell me what you think! I so love to see review alert in my mailbox! 

Till next time! Which will not be so long this time (hoping I just didn't jinx myself).

P.S- I'm sorry if this seems a bit of a Cliffhanger, but if I got into Harry starting to fill James in, it would have taken even longer.


	17. Stories, Worries and Early GoodByes

James sat and stared at his son. Not only was his son really talking to him in a language other then one that can only be called "baby talk", but also what he was talking about was just out of this world! Harry had just finished filling James in on the First task of the Tri-Wizard Tournament. And boy was that a task! He was so wrapped up in everything that his son did and said in his story that James wouldn't be surprised if Harry would later tell him that he had his mouth hanging open through out the story. But how could he not? Even if it wasn't your child that you hadn't seen in fourteen years that was telling the story, who wouldn't be hanging on to every word a Tri-Wizard Champion said about one of the tasks they where in?

Having started a petition to the get the tournament played again with Sirius while he was in his fifth year at Hogwarts, James knew a lot about the Tri-Wizard Tournament. And he told Harry so. Harry seemed a tad interested in this. So James lunched into the story. He was doing everything that he could to keep conversation with Harry going. He asked lots of questions about the first task, some of which even led to other little stories, like those of how he became best friends with his friends for instance. He couldn't help himself. Being in Harry's company was almost like a drug to him. Even when Harry was little, James had a hard time tearing himself away from his baby boy. Harry was just addicting to him. And that addiction seemed to have heightened now that Harry could hold a conversation.

Harry, however, wasn't enjoying the conversation as much as James. He was still battling with his feelings. Some of him wanted Sirius to come back in the room, just so that he was there in case James tried to hug him again, or incase they came to topics that were hard to talk about. Then, there was another part of him that _wanted_ to tell James all the hard topics, meaning those of The Dursley's and having faced Voldemort three times since James went into his coma, just to see how he would react. There was still another feeling, one that wanted to move to a seat that was on the other side of the table, the same side as James, and listen to his father tell a story from when he was Harry's age, and maybe, possibly, let James hug him if he tried to do it again. And those were just the top three feelings.

"So, if that was just the first task I can't imagine what they did for the second." James said after finishing his telling of the speech Sirius made, while standing on top of the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall, of why people should sign the petition. Harry got the hint; James wanted to hear about the second task now. After glancing toward the door of the kitchen, and then down to his watch, Harry looked up at James.

"It's getting kind of late." Harry said, a little more bluntly, and rudely, then he had intended. James face, which had just been shining with a smile, dulled very fast. Quickly, Harry added, "Well it's just that I've left a bit of my homework late. And I haven't seen my friends since yesterday, and their probably worried about me. And then there's Umbridge and she'll have noticed that I haven't been 'spreading lies' all day and go looking for me," Harry rambled on, unconsciously rubbing the back of his right hand. James raised an eyebrow at the mention of Umbridge, and his son's action of rubbing his hand. But the name grabbed more of his attention, it sounded familiar.

"Why would she think that you would be spreading lies?" James asked. "And why would she care?"

"Well," Harry said slowly. "What I have to say, the Ministry doesn't agree with, so she has dubbed it a lie." Harry said. He wanted to get back to Hogwarts. Now was not the time to start with the 'Umbridge hate's me' topic. Cause, that would lead to what had happened at the end of the third task. And he didn't want to get into that story right now; he wouldn't get back to Hogwarts till morning if he started that story. James could see that there was more to this telling lies thing, but he wouldn't push Harry. Just like when he sat down at the table, James reminded himself that he had to go slow and gain Harry's trust. So instead of asking, "what are the things you have to say?" like he so dearly wanted to, James instead said,

"Alright. Let's go find Sirius and Remus and see how you're getting back to Hogwarts." That had been one of the most painful things James had ever said. He didn't want Harry to leave so soon. Cause it was way to soon. After waiting for so long (or what seemed so long), he just wanted to stay by Harry's side forever. But, again, he forcibly reminded himself that he had to go slow. He rose from his chair and wait for Harry to do the same. He saw a sense of uneasiness over come Harry, and he had a feeling what it was about. Trying not to think that his son didn't want to be close to him, James made his way toward the door. Harry followed him, though at a distance. As they walked out of the kitchen, James tried desperately to think of something to say or ask to calm one of his fears that seemed to be consuming him.

"So," James said in a whisper as the got into hearing range of Sirius' mother's portrait. Remus and Sirius had filled James in early on about keeping quite when they past her. Harry cast a quick glance at James before, just as quickly, he returned his gaze to the steps they were now ascending. "I know that with your O.W.L's this year the teachers have got to be weighing you down with homework, but, well, you never finished filling me in on the tasks. So, on the weekend, if you're not too swamped with homework that is, if you wanted to come back here and finish the story up, well, I'm sure that it wouldn't be a problem. If you wanted to." James managed to stumble out. While he was at school, one of the things that was well known about James Potter was that he was a smooth talker. And rarely did he ever have a hard time getting his message across. But, that was until he tried to ask Lily out in his seventh year after doing some growing up, that was until he tried to ask Lily to marry him, that was until he tired to tell Sirius that he wanted him to be his first child's godfather, and that was until he tried to ask his son to come back and talk to him the weekend approaching.

Harry's brain was working in over drive, trying to come up with an answer. His father had sounded so, so, almost helpless when he asked Harry to come back to Grimmauld Place this coming weekend. _'Maybe you'll have all your feelings sorted out be then.'_ Harry thought as they reached the first landing. Now was another topic he was torn on. But when he realized that they weren't walking anymore, that they were just standing on the first landing, Harry looked up at his father. If Harry had thought that when James asked him he sounded helpless, it was nothing to how he was looking at Harry. And for the first time ever, in his whole life, Harry got the feeling that there was someone in this completely messed up world that _needed _him. Just him, not the Boy-Who-Lived, just him, Harry James Potter. It was then that Harry fully understood what Sirius had said to him about James needing to see him. His father, his _father_, needed to see him, to talk to him, who was Harry, his only son, to deny him?

"I'll try to get all my homework done during the week." Harry said, his voice oddly tight as he spoke. James beamed, and started back up the stairs looking for Sirius and Remus. As James headed up the stairs, Harry stayed behind for just a moment, thinking. By the weekend, surely he would have sorted through his feelings. He would have that talk with Sirius about what to call James; and he would have talked to Ron and Hermione about it. Yes, surly by the weekend he would be all sorted out he wouldn't feel so awkward aroundthe man that was his father. With those thoughts he followed James up the stairs.

* * *

When Sirius had left the kitchen with Remus, he had thought that he was going to be getting some bad news. But, really, this news wasn't _so_ bad. And he told Remus so.

"I mean everyone was going to find out anyways. I don't know why Dumbledore wanted to wait so long in the first place." Sirius said, sitting down on the bed that James had taken to sleeping in. They were going to have to make James' return known sometime within the week. Friday at the latest.

The original plan was that Paige was just going to say that the case was still open, that she was still working on it if anyone were to ask, but as a low profile case, there should have been very few questions. And it would have gone fine had one of the Jr. Auror's that was at the scene not started running his mouth about how James Potter's body was missing. Naturally, this turned a few heads. This attention brought on a lot more questions then was intended. The Jr. Auror was silenced, but no one was sure how long it would be before word leaked to the Press. And it would like bad if the Auror's didn't have anything to givethem.Under the pressure of being removed from the head of the case, which would ruin the plan completely, Paige had to produce either a body or a death eater.

"Dumbledore wanted to wait so that we could get James set up and into position at that old couple's house without rushing and possiably making a mistake. " Remus said sitting down next to Sirius on the bed.

"Who's this lot that Dumbledore is dumping James with?" Sirius asked looking at his friend.

"In the war with Grindelwald, Dumbledore saved the life of this kid, this muggle kid, during one of the battle; but he had to use magic to do it. Well, you know Dumbledore, he didn't want to Obliviate the kid so he sat him down and explained a few things to him. The kid was so appreciative that he swore that he wouldn't tell anyone what happened and that he would pay Dumbledore back." Remus explained. During that war, the Muggle and Wizarding world's had collided with each other a few times and, before Voldemort, it had been the closest the Muggles had come to discovering Wizards since the Dark Ages.

"So this kid is still in Dumbledore's debt, only he's not a kid any more." Sirius said nodding, finishing the rest of the story, as it was so clearly placed before him now. "But, how's he going to explain this to his wife?" Sirius asked having heard the word couple.

"Well, as it turns out, they have a Daughter-in-law who's a muggle-born. When he found out that she was a witch, he asked the girl about Dumbledore and then sent him an owl reminding him that he still owed him a favor that he was will to give." Remus said. Again, Sirius nodded. They were both silent for a sort time before Sirius spoke the question that he knew Remus was thinking as well.

"How do you think it's going down there?"

"I have no clue. I want to say good since they haven't come up looking for us, but then again, it's James and his son. They wouldn't just get up and come looking for us if they felt uncomfortable." Remus said.

"Should we go back down to them? Harry really seemed like he didn't want to be left alone." Sirius said, gazing at the door, as if expecting Harry to come running through it.

"Maybe we should just go down stairs and try to listen through the door to see if their talking, if they are, we'll leave them, if their not, we'll go in." Remus said standing. Sirius started to nod his head but stopped when a better idea came to him.

"No need to walk all the way down stairs." He said, though he also rose from his spot on the bed. Remus watched as Sirius walked out of the room, pulling something that Remus couldn't see from the pocket of his robes. Remus followed him. Once in the hall way, Remus saw that Sirius was standing on the stairs next to the railing looking down, he was putting something in his ear and with a grin to Remus dropped a flesh colored string over the railing and said go. Watching as the Extendable Ear stretched and moved to glide under the door that leads to the kitchen, Remus walked over to Sirius.

"Molly would kill you." Was all he said. Sirius didn't say anything as he listened. And, in spite of himself, Remus found himself wishing that he too had an Extendable Ear. But when Sirius' face spilt into a large grin, Remus was left in no doubt of what was going on in the kitchen; James and Harry had to be talking.

"Harry's telling James' about how he, Ron and Hermione became friends." Sirius said. Remus smiled as well. That seemed to be a non-small talk topic. But then, Remus thought that after minutes of silence, James just asked the first question that came to mind, which happened to be 'so, got any friends?' Sirius, seeing Remus' smile started to fade, pulled from his pocket another Extendable Ear and handed it over to Remus so he could listen as well.

"Please tell me that you didn't buy these from them?" Remus asked as he placed it in his ear and dropped it over the railing as Sirius had done. "Go." He said to the string.

"No, I stole it from the batch that Molly was burning." Sirius said offhandedly. "I was going to slip it back to the Twins, they seemed so upset about it. But, it just slipped my mind." Sirius said. For a few seconds, Remus heard nothing. Then he heard Harry's voice as clearly as if Harry were standing next to him.

"So, cause Hermione had no idea about the troll, me and Ron went to go get her." Remus heard Harry say. "We're on our way to the girl's bathroom when we smelled something."

"The troll," Remus heard James say with understanding, and Remus could almost see a small smile on James' face as he remembered the first time he, Remus and Sirius had ever smelt a troll.

"Yeah, it was. And it started heading into this room, which, had the key in the lock. Ron and me deiced to lock the troll in. So once the troll got into the room, we locked it. Then just as we're heading back to the common room, we heard a scream." Harry went on. Remus heard James give a groan.

"It was the girl's bathroom," It wasn't really a question, more of a statement that James made. Remus assumed that Harry had just nodded his head because he continued with,

"We ran back and went into the bathroom. Hermione was stuck in a corner so we started to yell to confuse it. It worked pretty well but then Ron got stuck in a corner, so I jumped on its back and stuck my wand up its noise." Here Remus heard James give a chuckle, whether it was at his son's stuipdness, bravery or quick thinking, he would have to ask later. "Ron being the only one to have his wand now cast _Wingardium Leviosa_ and knocked the troll out with it's club. Soon after McGonagall came in, Hermione took the blame which was the real shock of the night, lost us five points, and then Ron and me each got five points. And then, after that, we just became friends." Harry said, ending the story.

Sirius pulled the Ear out of his own and faced Remus, smile still set into place. Remus smiled as well.

"Well, sounds like all's going well down stairs," Sirius said lightly as he made his way back into the room. Remus gave a small laugh.

"Yes, I'd say so," Was he reply.

"What else do you think they've talked about?" Sirius said as he sat down, his face scrunched up in confusion, much like he use to when they were all still at Hogwarts and innocent, well, as innocent as the Marauders could be.

Remus had to admit that even Professor Trelawney had to be able to see that the future for Sirius Black was definitely looking up. Whether or not Sirius would be freed was still up in the air, but Sirius' future no longer held that he would end up dying in the house he so dearly wanted to burn to the ground. James would not allow that to happen. Remus could almost hear what argument James would make, '_If my house is safe enough for Harry, it should be safe enough for Sirius to hide out there!_' Yeah, it would be along those lines. And that, Remus thought, was a brighter future.

"I have no idea." Remus said. "But, I'm sure that Harry will have to give some back round information about why the troll was let into the school, and that of course would lead to the Stone." He added sitting down in a chair that was facing the bed Sirius was sitting on.

"I don't really know if Harry's up to talking about that yet." Sirius said, his face falling slightly.

"Why? What did he say to you?" Remus asked.

"Well, right before James came into the kitchen, and I mean like right before, he asked what he should call James." Sirius said, growing more and more glum as he spoke. Remus stared. "Yeah I know. I was just about to tell him to call him dad when he started saying how he thought that the name 'dad' was for someone that had been there for a long time, or for someone special, it was something along those lines." Sirius went on, hoping that Remus would shed some light on the topic. Remus was still staring at Sirius. Yes, everyone knew that his would be hard and awkward for Harry but… Yet, Remus was reminded of what he had said to Sirius on Halloween.

"He doesn't know him yet Sirius. It is… Understandable that he would feel odd calling someone who is practically a stranger to him dad." Remus said finally.

"Yeah I know, but… I mean what is he supposed to call James? 'James'?" Sirius asked. Remus nodded.

"I guess he will. Maybe Prongs, but I think, for Harry, that would be just as hard as calling James dad." Remus said. Sirius sighed.

"I'll talk to him more about it when I take him back to Hogwarts." Sirius said, rubbing his eyes with the palms of his hands.

"Are you gonna stay at Hogwarts?" Remus asked. There hadn't been any talk of how things were going to work once Harry had found out about James. Their number one concern was getting Harry to Grimmauld Place. But, now they had to work some things out relatively quickly, because, knowing James the second Harry left he would be asking when his son was coming back.

"Nah, I would love to, but I'll stick around here. Keep James from going insane and give him someone to gush about Harry to." Sirius said, pretending to be really upset at having to stay with James and listen to him "gush" about Harry, but Remus knew better. It was the same routine when Harry was a baby, all James would talk about was what Harry did at breakfast, and Sirius would complain that all James did was "gush" about Harry. Yet anyone that Sirius met later that day would have to spend hours listening to the latest news about his wonderful godson.

"How are you going to get him back to Hogwarts?" Remus asked.

"Ah, now that is the question on everybody's mind isn't it?" Remus and Sirius looked toward the doorway where James was standing with a wide smile on his face. He walked into the room and was followed by Harry. James looked as though he could fly without a broomstick and Harry looked, well Harry looked a little overwhelmed.

"Your ready to go back to Hogwarts Harry?" Sirius asked looking at his godson closely. Harry met his eyes and nodded.

"I've got a bunch of homework that I left and I haven't seen Ron and Hermione so they're probably worried about me by now." Harry said in a voice where uncomfortable ness could be heard. Sirius nodded and stood, Remus did the same.

"Well we're taking a Portkey back. So whenever you're ready Harry." Sirius said, and realized that saying that might have been a mistake. At his words he could see some form over turmoil going on inside of Harry, and Sirius had a feeling of what it was about. How was he going to say goodbye to James?

"While your there Sirius," James spoke up, with a quick glance at Harry. "Ask Dumbledore that, if Harry's still up to it, if he can come back here on the weekend." Smiling softly at what James had just asked, Sirius said,

"Sure thing. Ready Harry?" Harry nodded again, seemingly having a hard time talking. Sirius walked over to the bedside table where there was an empty glass and pointed his wand at it and said "_Portus_." Remus, James and Harry watched as the glass glowed blue, trembled and then sat still as the charm took hold. Looking up at Remus, Harry said,

"It was nice seeing you again Professor."

"Please Harry, call me Remus or your dad and Sirius will take up calling me Professor." Remus said with a smile. He seemed to be trying to make the mood in the room as light as possible, letting Sirius know that he wasn't the only one that had caught on to Harry's uncomfortable state. Harry tried to smile, but ended up with onlya grin. With a deep breath seen by Remus and Sirius he turned around to James.

"Well, er, I guess I'll see you on Friday or Saturday." Harry said, clearly unsure of what else to say or do. But, just as Harry had said Friday, an unpleasant thought hit Sirius.

"Uh, it just came to me, a small problem." Sirius said, just as James opened his mouth to say something to Harry. At Sirius' words, Jameslooked upat his best friend sharply. He knew Sirius well enough to know that there was something that was going to keep him from seeing his son this weekend. And that thought made James mad.

"What?" James asked, anger very evident in his voice.

"Well, the plan that we had to get the Wizarding World to know you've returned hit a snag. And it'll have to happen sooner then we though. At the latest Friday. And there's no doubt that the Ministry will keep you there for a few days." Remus said speaking up for Sirius. Having a way with making bad things sound, well less bad, Remus thought that it would be best if he were the one who told James that the Ministry was the reason he wouldn't be seeing Harry on the weekend.

"You mean everyone's going to know by next week? At the latest?" Harry spoke up. The adults present in the room weren't sure whether Harry was happy or terrified at this.

"Yeah, probably. But, it a way it's kind of good." Sirius said. "When your classmates start staring at you, you'll look the part of a boy who just found out that his dead father isn't really dead. If we had waited, it would look suspicious if you were to comfortable with it." Harry snorted at the idea of classmates staring him being a new thing. But, he had to agree with Sirius.

"How are you going to get people to know that he's back?" Harry asked. Remus took notice of how Harry said "he" instead of dad.

"Well it's a very long story Harry," Remus started to say but was cut off by Sirius.

"A old friend of your dad's and ours is gonna 'find' him, bring him to the Ministry, where, under her supervision, he'll be tested to see if he's really him. After they know that he's him, Dumbledore will tell them his theory about what happened and why he's here and then, bam, James Potter is officially back." Sirius said casually.

"Alright, maybe not that long of a story." Remus said once Sirius was done and Harry was nodding his head in understanding. "Well, we won't keep you any longer from you homework Harry." Remus said.

"Right," Sirius added picking up the glass and moving toward Harry. Again Harry turned to James to say good-bye.

"I hope everything with the Ministry works out," Harry said after a moment, clearly saying one of the first things that popped into his mind. James smiled.

"I'm sure it will. And, maybe after the Ministry declares me, well me, I'll be able to come to Hogwarts and meat your friends." James said. It was more of a question if Harry _wanted_ him to come and meat his friends then that he might be able to, Sirius observed. Harry managed a weak smile and then turned to face Sirius signaling that he wanted to go.

"Bye Harry." James said, with a voice full of sadness of having to say bye so soon. Sirius raised his wand and pointed it at the glass. Harry looked back up to his father and said,

"Bye," and felt the jerk from behind his navel. Once Sirius and Harry were gone from the room, James turned to Remus. After looking at his friend for a short time, James' face spilt into a wide smile.

"It went well then?" Remus asked, returning the smile. He wasn't going to let on that he and Sirius had been spying on them, he wanted to give James the satisfaction of being able to tell him all that Harry had said and did.

"Yeah it went well," James said moving and taking the spot on the bed where Sirius had been sitting. "I just... gotta sit down." Remus laughed.

"Yes, Harry can do that to you." Remus said remembering the first time he had met Harry. James of course had heard this story. It was one of the stories Sirius and Remus felt that they could tell James. There wasn't very much in it that they felt James had to hear from Harry as most of it Harry was acting on actions set by Remus and Sirius. "So, what did you guys talk about?"

"Harry told me all about the first task." James said, beaming with what could only be pride. "When you guys keep telling me that he was a natural on a broom, I had no idea to what level. I mean he got passed a Horntail! On a broom! Man," James said, falling backwards on to the bed. "My son is amazing." James concluded. Remus laughed. Even if Harry hadn't gotten passed a Horntail on a broom, he was certain that no other remark about Harry would, or could, be made.

"Anything else you guys talked about?" Remus asked. It was important to know what Harry had told James and what he hadn't so that Sirius and Remus knew what not to say around James. This question seemed a little suspicious to James though, and Remus could tell itwhen James lifted his head a little so that he could see Remus.

"Yeah, he told me about how he met and became friends with his best friends. And how the hell did a troll get in the school? Harry said Peeves but he wouldn't have been able to pull that off. Well anyway lets see, he told me about Mad-Eye being his teacher and giving him the idea of getting passed the Dragon in the air. And to that all I can say is Merlin! He told me he was close with Hagrid. Which I'm glad to hear.Those kind of topics mostly." James said letting his head fall back onto the bed. Remus had to hold in a sigh. Harry hadn't told him _anything_ really. Not even aboutwhy he was close to Hagrid, because that wouldlead to the Dursley's, and there was no way for James to knowabout them and not be freaking.

To James it might seem like his son really opened up to him but there was just so much about Harry that what James knew was just the tip of the iceberg. And what an iceberg it is.

* * *

A.N- Well, there you guys go. Thanks for all the reviews for the last chapter; I'm really glad that you guys liked it. This chapter was kind of transition, so I'm sorry if it's a bit dull. I hope that I got the emotions across good in this chapter; I'm a little concerned about that. But, a review from you will make me feel better, they always do! So…Drop me a review and make me an oh so happy author!

Till next time!

Oh and "reviewer" I'm sorry that I'm torturing your child, but I'm glad that you like my method of torture. Thank you for the review and telling me what you're feeling.


	18. Mixed up Feelings

"Well?" Sirius asked as soon as he and Harry found themselves in Dumbledore's sitting room once more. The glass that they had used as the Portkey hadn't even hit the floor before Sirius rounded on Harry, eager to hear everything that he hadn't heard with the Extendable Ear. The room was the same as it had been the very first time Sirius had entered it, lit only by the sunlight that was shining through the vast windows. Harry looked at Sirius' eager face and felt a small smile from who knows where appear on his face.

"It went, alright I guess." Harry said as he watched Sirius' face light up with a beaming smile.

"Really? It went good?" Sirius asked as he directed Harry toward one of the armchairs. Once he had Harry sitting, Sirius kneeled down in front of him so he could look into Harry's face. He wanted things to work out with James and Harry so badly. Dumbledore was right; there were hardly any other people who deserved this more then James and Harry.

"Yeah, well I think it did." Harry said thinking back to all that had happened.

"What did you tell him?" Sirius asked, his voice made it sound like he was asking if Harry told James what shoe size he was, but Harry knew what he was talking about.

"Well, I told him about the first task of the tournament…" Harry said trailing off. Sirius studied Harry closely. He was afraid to ask his next question, because he had a feeling what the answer would be as he started considering how little time James and Harry had actually spent in the kitchen together.

"And, well, did you tell him about the third task?" Sirius asked, watching as Harry's eyes shifted from Sirius' face to the bookshelves that Sirius had his back to.

"No, I didn't get to that." Harry said softly, obviously avoiding Sirius' eyes.

"Well, that's okay." Sirius said trying to sound like it really was okay that Harry was keeping things like this from his father. But, the more and more Sirius thought about how happy James looked when he came into the room where Remus and himself were sitting, the more Sirius realized that Harry couldn't have told him anything. "What _did _you tell him?" Sirius asked, slightly dreading what Harry would tell him.

"Nothing really." Harry said bitterly. Sirius was so shocked by the complete and abrupt mood swing that he blinked and leaned back from Harry slightly. Where the hell had that come from? "I didn't tell him any of the things that you want to know if I told him. I told him how Ron and Hermione and me all became best friends. I didn't even tell him the full story of how I met Ron, cause that would lead to how I knew nothing about the Magical World because of the Dursley's. I told him that I was friends with Hagrid, but I didn't tell him that full story either because, that too, would lead to the Dursley's." Harry said standing up so abruptly that Sirius almost fell to the ground. But Harry didn't see because as he continued his rant, he made his way to the bookshelves and acted as though he was looking for a book.

"I told him that "Moody" was the one who gave me the idea about getting past the Dragon in the air. But, no, in case you were wondering, I didn't tell him that "Moody" was a death eater who was only helping me so I would later be killed. And also, no I didn't tell him that there was an age limited on the Tournament. Because that would also lead to the plan to kill me. I didn't tell him about the stone, I didn't tell him about the Chamber and I didn't tell him how I met you and came to believe that you were innocent. So no Sirius, I didn't tell him anything." Harry said, still with his back to Sirius, still examining the books on the shelves, but his voice had lost some of the anger and bitterness it had first held.

"He has to know Harry." Sirius said firmly, standing upright. "When people find out that he's back, do you really think that the press isn't going to ask him anything? Do you think that Reporters that took lessons from bloody Rita Skeeter are going to let James hear from his son all the things that he missed?" Sirius said, anger rising in his voice. He wasn't sure what he was madder at. The fact that James was going to learn something about Harry from the Ministry that he should have heard from Remus, himself or more over, Harry. Or if it was that Harry let that happen.

"I know that he has to know Sirius. And, part of me wanted to tell him!" Harry yelled whirling around to face Sirius, eyes bright. "But, not so that he would know! I don't even know why, but part of me wanted to tell him so that he know the hell I've been through because he wasn't there! But for some reason, 'I lived in a cupboard under the stairs until I was eleven because the Dursley's, who I went to live with by the way, hate me for what you and mum were and what I am. I only found out I was a Wizard when Hagrid gave me my letter. Then since returning to the Magical World, I've faced Lord Voldemort three times and been in more life threaten situations then I care to count' doesn't really role off the tongue!" Harry yelled, speaking his "life story" in a very sarcastic voice. By the time he was done with the portion of his rant, Harry was left a little breathless. Sirius stared at his godson with new understanding.

"You know, it's okay to be pissed at him." Sirius said softly, wanting to move closer to his godson, but knowing better. Harry merely stared. "By all rights, you should be. He left you alone. But then again, so did your mum, and well while we're at it, so did I. But I swear on my life that there isn't one of us that wouldn't give anything to change what you've been through Harry. And you know what? Until you know him, call him James. He wouldn't mind as long as you were being open with him. But, you'll never know him until you start talking to him." Sirius said walking over to the glass that was still lying on the floor from when they arrived. He bent down and picked it up and was examining it as though looking for cracks.

"How," Harry started to ask, but Sirius cut him off.

"I don't know how you should go about telling him everything that happened Harry. And I'm sorry that I can't help you with it. Maybe, just start off with by telling him you've been keeping some things from him." Sirius said, walking over to the desk and placing the glass upon in then turning to face Harry. Harry opened his mouth to say something, but Sirius waved him off before he could even start. His face had a look of a kid that had just broken their mother's favorite vase and was now trying to say sorry. "I get it Harry, really I do. But," He stopped and let out a sigh then met Harry's starling green eyes. "Didn't you ever want to meet your parents?" he asked softly. Harry nodded. Then told Sirius what only three other people know. Those three being Ron, Hermione, and Dumbledore.

"When I looked into the Mirror of Erised, I saw my parents." Harry said softly looking at the floor, still fitting the description of a guilt-ridden child.

"Well you have one of them know." Sirius said, making his way over to his godson. "James is really here, not some magic trick in a mirror. And you can have him, and get to know him if you just gave it a shot." Sirius went on as his placed his hands on Harry shoulders. "I'm not saying that you have to go back and talk to him right now, just, well, that the next time you do, it would be best to get all the crap out of the way." Harry sighed and nodded. "Alright then. Well, you better get back to the common room and talk to Ron and Hermione." Sirius said, sliding his arm around Harry shoulders and leading him toward the door. "This is to stay between you three. Be careful whom you talk around. Your not suppose to know anything." They stopped once they were standing in front of the door and Harry looked up into Sirius face, very thankful that he had Sirius with him to understand him and help him through all of this. He opened his mouth to say so but, again, seemingly knowing what Harry was going to say, Sirius waved it off.

"I'll go out first to make sure that Dumbledore isn't with anyone and then you'll follow. I would walk you to the common room, but I should get back to Grimmauld Place." Sirius had just placed a hand on the door when a though came to him, "Oh and tell Hermione to look up the spell "_Oppressum_" in a book called…Oh Merlin what was the name of it," Sirius hit his head with the palm of his hand to try and jog his memory. If Harry wasn't so confused about why Sirius wanted Hermione to spend more time in the library then she already did, he would have laughed at his godfather's actions. But, they seemed to have worked as Sirius let out a triumphant "Ha!"

"The book's called _Me and my Magical Emotions_. Tell her to look the book up and learn "_oppressum_" it's the spell for the emotion of overwhelmed. Can't hurt to have you look the part after the press gets wind." Sirius said smiling.

"Me and my Magical Emotions?" Harry questioned. Sirius let out his bark like laugh.

"Yeah, that's what your dad said when he first heard the name. Remus found it on one of his daily visits to the library and well, the spell for the look of innocents came in handy many times," Sirius, smiling even more at the memories of the things they had gotten away with the help of all the spells in that book. "Alright. If it's all clear out there, I'll bark." With that Sirius opened the door the tinniest of cracks and transformed into the giant black shabby dog that he was. He opened the door a little farther with his snout and then stuck his snout out into the office and sniffed the air. But, when the scents of many people came to his noise, he realized that this was, after all, the Headmasters office of a very large school. Sticking his whole head out of the room, Sirius looked around. Not seeing anyone but Fawkes, Sirius moved fully into the office. No one. He let out one sort bark, and Harry came out of the room. Harry walked with Padfoot toward the door and when they reached it, Harry gave the dog a rub on the head, and left the office. Turning around, the dog ran back into the room, closed the door with his snout and transformed back into a man.

Sirius leaned against the door for a moment, going over everything that Harry had said. Sighing and running a hand through his hair, Sirius walked back over to the desk, pointed his wand at the glass, said "_Portus_," and allowed the thought that he needed to get a hair cut enter his mind as he watched the glass tremble and glow blue, preparing it's self to take Sirius back to Grimmauld Place.

* * *

Harry had almost reached the Portrait hole when he heard someone calling his name. Turning, Harry saw Ginny Weasley walking briskly over to him. Her mane of fiery red hair was been blown back slightly from the speed of her walking. As she approached Harry she said,

"Finally," pretending to sound exhausted, but failing in her attempt as she was smiling warmly at Harry. "I had to have called your name about ten times before this and had to follow you two whole floors. We've all been looking for. Ron, Hermione, and me that is. We know that you left Ron that note, but, we were all worried any ways." Ginny went on as she reached Harry. Now standing in front of Harry, Ginny could see his face fully and her smile faded slightly.

"Are you okay Harry?" Ginny asked sounded concerned. Harry nodded, remembering what Sirius had told him, not to tell anyone but Ron and Hermione.

"Do you have any idea where Ron and Hermione are?" Harry asked, knowing that this discussion was going to take a while and that if they didn't start it as soon as possible Harry would never get the homework he had done. Ginny had just started shaking her head when,

"Harry!" Turning around Harry saw Hermione followed by Ron coming out of the Portrait hole. "Oh thank goodness. Is very thing alright?" Hermione asked hurriedly walking to were Harry and Ginny stood.

"What do you mean?" Harry asked, and then he caught sight of what she had in her hand. It was an aging peace of parchment, which Harry easily identified as the Marauder's Map. Seeing where he was looking, Ron quickly explained.

"We just wanted to see where you were, cause you had been gone so long. And we only just got it," Ron said. Harry waved it off and with a quick glance at Ginny he said,

"I just need to talk to you guys." Harry said, once again with a quick glance at Ginny. Harry felt bad, but he wasn't about to go against what Sirius had told him. Not when he had already made him so mad. Ron caught on to what Harry meant with the glances, which Harry hadn't noticed were so obvious, at Ginny.

"Right, well, thanks for your help looking for him Ginny, but we gotta talk, so we'll see you at dinner." Ron said in a tone only an older brother could direct at the youngest Weasley. Ginny's smile was completely gone now.

"I can't talk about it to anyone but them Ginny, really. You'll know what this is about soon enough. Don't say anything though about me not being around all day though alright?" Harry said, feeling guilty that she had spent most of her day looking for someone that wasn't even on Hogwarts grounds. Ginny rolled her eyes.

"Yes because that was what I was going to do Harry, run straight to Umbridge and tell her that no one knew where you were for most of the day and now you want to talk to your friends alone. Yeah, that's what I was just going to do until you stopped me." Ginny said, but she smiled lightly. Walking around them and saying the password to the Fat Lady she said, "Got homework anyways." Once Ginny was in the common room and the portrait had closed behind her, Ron and Hermione looked at Harry expectantly.

"I think we should go some where that we wont be over heard." Harry said, leading them away from the common room, back down the corridor. "This is kind of, well, big, for lack of better words."

* * *

After arriving at Grimmauld Place, Sirius grabbed three Butterbeers and started heading up to the room that he had left Remus and James in. His head was still spinning from everything that had happened with Harry in Dumbledore's office. Everything that Harry had said was just running all around his mind, making it very difficult to concentrate on one of them to try and find away to fix it. Sirius was so lost in his thought that he didn't even realize that he had walked right past the room where Remus and James were sitting in. But, James realized and went to fetch him, still overly joyous from meeting his son.

"Hey mate, we're in this room," James called to Sirius while leaning out of the doorway. Sirius turned around, looked at where he was and shook his head has he walked back over to James.

"Lost in thoughts." Sirius said as he reached James and placed once of the bottles into his hands. "What you two been up to?" Sirius asked walking into the room and underhand tossing Remus' drink to him. Remus caught it and followed Sirius with his eyes as Sirius made his way to sit in the chair. Once he was finally seated, Sirius looked up and met Remus eyes, and Remus had his confirmation; Harry hadn't told James anything that was important.

"I was just filling James in on some of the details about the people he's going to be staying with." Remus said, opening his Butterbeer and taking a long swig from it. James stared from Remus, who was just that type of person that took little sips, to Sirius who was staring at the floor, a distant look in his eyes.

"Okay guys, what's that big downer?" James asked, knowing that something was troubling his best friends. Both looked at each other, then at James, but it was Sirius that spoke.

"You know how we told you that Harry might not be totally comfortable with everything?" Sirius started. James nodded, confusion written on his face.

"Yeah, and he was for a little bit too. But, I was tell Remus, you know how whenever I get uncomfortable, I have to have something to do with my hands? Well Harry's the same way. We were just sitting there for a little bit and then he got up and started looking for something in the cabinets. And, I don't know, I just knew that he was looking for Butterbeer."  
James said, excitement in his voice over the discoverer of this similarity. Sirius nodded and said,

"He still is uncomfortable though, and well, I don't know how to tell you this James but I thought you had better see it coming. Well, Harry said that, until he gets to know you, that he just wants to call you James." Sirius said gravely. James stared. "It doesn't mean that he doesn't want to call you dad, it's just well, he was saying stuff about how he always thought that the name was special and he wants to know who he's saying it to I guess." Sirius hurriedly rambled on upon seeing James' broken face. There were very few times when Sirius had seen James so broken. Broken was so much harder to see then tears. Still saying nothing, James sat down at the foot of the bed, staring at the wall opposite from him.

"He'll get to know you soon enough James. And before you know it, he'll be calling you dad. And, it's not so bad, he still wants to see you and talk to you." Remus said softly after a few moments of silence. Still, all James did was stare blankly. Sirius and Remus exchanged a worried glance. They had not expected this, yes they thought, no, knew, that James wouldn't be happy about this but…

"Does he know that he's first word was dad?" James asked quietly. "And that he said it to me?" He said, looking up at Sirius and then moving his gaze to Remus when Sirius failed to give him an answer. "I'll take that as a no." Again silence filled the room. What broke the silence was a knock at the door. The three men looked up to see Albus Dumbledore standing in the doorway, gazing at them all from behind his half-moon glasses.

"I am truly sorry if I am interrupting something, but I fear that we are going to have to act quickly." Dumbledore said.

"What's wrong?" Sirius asked standing. Honesty, Sirius wasn't at all sorry that Dumbledore had showed up, things were not going well and he believed that they all need a distraction.

"We will have to place James into Mr. Davis' and his wife's care at the latest, tomorrow morning." Dumbledore said solemnly.

"Why?" Remus asked casting a glance at James then returning his attention to Dumbledore.

"It seems that something might have gotten to the Press. Ms Summers informs me that she has seen a few of them around Auror Headquarters and that it will not be long until they began to question her."

"I go to this muggle house, the Ministry finds me, questions me, and then what? They let me skip out of the containment rooms?" James asked, speaking for the first time. His tone was that of pure business. And Sirius understood where it was coming from. James knew that the only way for things to be right between Harry and him was to spend time with him. And, that couldn't happen if James couldn't be with him.

"I shall suggest to the Ministry that you stay at Hogwarts. Close to Harry, so you two can become reacquainted without him leaving the school grounds." Dumbledore replied. At the mention of this, the more selfish part of Sirius' brain screamed in protest. It was great having James with him; hell he needed James with him. Harry wasn't the only one who had lost James and, as Harry was only one at the time, Sirius felt that he had felt the loss more. James, showing that weird brotherly-bond that he shared with Sirius, glanced at Sirius.

"What about Sirius and Remus?" James asked, turning to look at Dumbledore. Dumbledore, showing patience that could only be gained by a teacher, spoke again.

"We will have to see. But, I believe that, most sadly, it would be easier for Sirius to stay inside the castle then Remus at the moment." Only three people in the room seemed to understand. Unfortunately, the one who didn't was the one who asked the question.

"James," Remus said, seeing his confusion written face, "we told you how Umbridge was teaching at Hogwarts." Remus said, as though this answered everything. James turned to face him. '_Had they really_?' James thought. Seeing the expression on Remus' face, something clicked into place.

"The bitch that made all those Laws," James said, staring at Remus. Remus gave a small nod of the head to show that James was indeed thinking of the right person. He spun around to look at Dumbledore. "Why the hell did you give her the job?" Sirius gave a small laugh.

"Good to see you've been listening to us mate." Sirius said. "But, I guess at this time, it would be best if we didn't bother filling you in as you'll just have to forget it." Sirius added, then turned to face Dumbledore. "I guess you're here to put his memories in the pensive?"

"That I am." Dumbledore said with a small nod of his head. He looked at James and then asked, "Would you like to go down to the kitchen James, or stay here?"

"Here's fine." James said. Again Dumbledore nodded. He walked over to where James was sitting and pulled from within his robes his wand. With a small wave Dumbledore conjured up a desk made of maple wood, smaller then the desk in his sitting room, but just as nice. Then, with another wave of his wand, he conjured up a large plush chair to sit behind the desk. After pulling the chair out so he may sit down, Dumbledore pulled from within his robes his pensive. Placing the pensive on the table, Dumbledore sat down and faced James.

"Whenever you are ready my boy. I believe it would be best to start with the most resent memories." Dumbledore said calmly. James nodded and pulled out his own wand. Placing it to his temple, James thought of what had just happened. He thought of Sirius telling him that Harry didn't want to call him dad, and, concentrating on that thought, James slowly moved his wand away from his head and felt the memory start to lessen, become less clear. Then, the memory was hanging form the end of his wand.

Sirius watched as James brought his memory over to the pensive and placed it inside and couldn't help but think how long this was going to take. Placing thoughts into the pensive was easy, if you wanted to rid your mind of the thought you're extracting. And, even though Sirius knew that the memory James had just pulled was probably not a pleasant one, as it had to be the one in which Remus and himself had told James of Harry's discomfort since it was the freshest, Sirius new that James wouldn't want to remove any information about Harry from his mind, no matter how painful.

* * *

Harry looked from Ron to Hermione. Both were staring at him with their mouths hanging open. He really hoped that they would say something soon, it was really odd to just be sitting there with them staring at him. When Harry, Ron, and Hermione had left the common room corridor they decided to head outside to avoid being overheard. Once they reached the grounds, Harry had lead them to the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest, to further insure that no one would just happen upon them. All the way to the spot they were now sitting, which was close to where Victor Krum had confronted Harry about Hermione after they had learned about the third task, Harry had not said a word, which worried his friends a great deal. But as soon as they were all sitting, Harry spilled to his friends. He told them everything that had happened since Snape found Harry heading back to the common room to when he had just left Sirius in Dumbledore's office. And now, Harry was waiting for one of them to snap out of their shock and help him.

"It's really him?" Ron finally asked, and Harry tore his eyes away from the grass he had been pulling from the ground while waiting for his friends to speak. Harry nodded. Ron's eyes widened and he stared at the ground, much like he had after Harry had finished telling them. Sighing, Harry went back to pulling grass out of the ground when suddenly, he found himself in a great hug and his vision was blocked by Hermione's hair.

"Hermione," Harry said, trying to keep himself from toppling onto the ground. When Hermione pulled away, Harry was startled to see tears in her eyes.

"Oh Harry," She said, "I so happy for you! You're father's back! You wont ever have to go back to the Dursley's and oh Harry you have a father, your father!" Hermione gushed happily. Harry looked at Ron to see what to do to keep Hermione from crying but was met only with the sight of Ron staring at her like she just sprouted another head.

"Are you alright Hermione?" Harry asked as Hermione started to fan herself with her hand to keep from crying.

"Of course I'm alright!" Hermione said sounding slightly choked. "I just so happy for you! Isn't this what you always wanted? To have your parents back?" Hermione asked.

"Well, yeah, kind of. But, it doesn't stop with whole thing from bring weird. I mean, I wanted my parents, but I don't know them. I don't know him. How am I going to call some guy I don't even know dad?" Harry asked, rubbing the back of his neck with a hand.

"But, I thought that you said Sirius said to just call him James." Ron said sounding slightly confused.

"He did, but I don't know I'm just so confused. One minute I'm really happy that I'll get to know my dad; that I have him, you know? Then the next I'm uneasy cause, well to be blunt, there is a lot of shit that he needs to be caught up on. I mean, think of everything that we've been through, that I've been through. And then, well, and then I feel, almost mad at him. I feel like I just want to hit him or something." Harry said, voice losing some strength as he reached his most troubling feelings. Even after Sirius told him that it was okay to be made at James for leaving him, Harry still felt bothered by it. Looking up at his friends, he saw that they wore, almost pitying looks.

"Sirius told me that it's okay that I'm mad at him. But, I don't know…" Harry said, trailing off. There was silence between them for a short time. Each of them thinking of everything Harry had said.

"So, so the Wizarding World is going to find out this week about him waking up from his coma?" Hermione asked. Harry nodded. And then he remembered Sirius telling him about the book that Hermione should look up. So Harry told her about _Me and my Magical Emotions_. And she seemed quite happy about it and insisted that they go and get it now. As they made there way back up to the castle, Hermione a little a head of Harry and Ron, Ron cast a glance at Harry and asked,

"When are you going to tell him about the Dursley's?"

"I guess the next time I see him." Harry said looking up at the sky and seeing some dark, gray clouds started to overtake the blue in the sky. "Sirius said that it would be best to just get it all out there and over with." Harry said, moving his gaze from the sky to Ron. And then, with determination in his voice, Harry added. "I'll tell him everything the next time I see him."

* * *

A.N- There you go. And, I hope you all are happy that I got this out today because I really should have been working on the English report that I haven't worked on at _all_! And that would be the same report that I have to present to my class on Tuesday! So, again, I hope you're all happy. Lol. Oh and _Oppressum _means overwhelmed in Latin, just FYI.

Make me feel better about putting my schoolwork off so, so, so late and send me lots of Reviews! Tell me what you guys think about this one, I really gotta know! Well, till next time.


	19. News travels fast

It was raining and completely miserable outside. The wind was howling something horrible and every so often, there would be a "thump" resulting from a branch being blown off of one of the nearby trees and then being further blown into one of the walls of a small cottage. But inside the small, yet comfortable, cottage of Mr. and Ms John Davis a large fire was in the grate casting a warm and inviting glow. Though cottage was small, a family of four would be, and was, able to live in it without feeling the need for more space between themselves and their family. With three bedrooms, one for Mr. and Ms Davis and the other two for their children that were no longer children, a kitchen and a living room, the cottage was an ideal summer home for a family that liked to get away from the hustle of London. But an even better purpose then a summer get-away, was a retirement home, which was what Ms Davis had taken to calling it.

After a hard war, John Davis seemed to pull back slightly from the rest of the world. He seemed to have taken a liking to "people studying", meaning that he just liked to observe random people and how they went about normal everyday things. He watched as though he had never seen someone light a cigarette with a lighter before. Fearing that she might lose her husband to whatever hold World War Two had over him, Ms Davis had deiced to take the family, her husband and their two children Michelle and Richard, out to this small cottage every summer. And it seemed to help her husband a great deal. With no one else around really, all that he had to do was study his family, which, in an odd way, brought them all closer. For example, it was during one summer that Mr. Davis learned that his daughter liked bird watching, so, with nothing better to do, Mr. Davis began to accompany his daughter on her trips into the woods for "Bird Hunting". The family became closer and Mr. Davis slowly started to become the man he had been before he went to war. And when the time came for retirement, it was logical that this was the place for them.

So for quite a few years, there had been nothing but peace and quiet for the old couple. Which, perhaps, was the reason Mr. and Ms Davis were so eager to let a stranger into their home when he showed up in the early hours of Tuesday morning completely soaked from the rain that had started some time the night before. They wished to have something new in their life's, something else to talk about over tea. And this young James Potter seemed to be it.

"Would you like another blanket James? You're still shaking a little honey." Ms Davis asked the young stranger who was sitting in front of the roaring fire. Since arriving, James had said very little. He had told them his name, that he was lost, and that he just needed a place to sit the storm out and a few other things only offered after the Davis' asked a question. Ms Davis, whose maternal instincts kicked in as soon as she saw the 20 some odd boy at her door, could not turning him away. Seeing him there, wearing the most peculiar clothing, shivering from the cold rain had just made her heart ache.

And, if that had not been enough, when she had opened the door, he had been looking down, but at the sound of her voice asking if she could help him, he looked up, and when he did, Ms Davis saw heartbreak in his young eyes. So, she took him in and was trying to give him space, but comfort at the same time, something she was positive only a mother would be able to pull off. She had let him into her home, ushered him down a short hall wall, into one of the bedrooms and went hustling about looking for some dry clothes for him to wear. She found some old clothes that Richard had left from his last visit and left them on the bed for him, telling him to change and then to come out to the kitchen were she would have some hot food for him. Once he had changed, he walked slowly toward the kitchen were Ms Davis was heating some food in the microwave. After having some left over dinner, Ms Davis led him into the living room and told him to sit near the fire as he was bound to still be cold, and she insisted that he wrap a blanket around himself. James did not argue, he just merely sat down in front of the fire and hadn't moved from that spot since.

At her question James shook his head.

"No thanks. I'm fine." James said softly, eyes glued to the fire. After a moment, Ms Davis walked away from James and went to her husband who was standing in the kitchen, staring at James. Mr. Davis of course new what was going on, what was wrong with James, and what was making him shake like that. And it wasn't from the cold. Albus Dumbledore had explained it all or most of it anyway. Dumbledore had contacted him a few days prior, informing him that a man would be coming to them in a few days, asking for a place to stay. Don't turn him away, Dumbledore had said. And he had then explained some of what had happened to the young man that was sitting on John's living room floor. He said that John couldn't know too much because others would be coming for James, and that it would be best if he knew as little as possible so the others wouldn't give him a hard time.

"I'm worried John," Ms Davis said in an undertone once she had reached her husband. "That boy trembles something terrible, and I know enough to know that it isn't from the cold." She said looking at James concernedly.

"Don't you worry Christina," John said to his wife, watching as James pulled the blanket tighter around him. "Just leave him some hot coco, a plate of biscuits, and leave him be." Ms Davis opened her mouth to say something when a sudden movement in the living room distracted her. And it was clear what the distraction was.

James had sprung to his feet, letting blanket fall to the floor, and pulled from the waste band of the jeans Ms Davis had left for him a wooden stick. Ms Davis gasped. She recognized what that was, it was a wand. Just like the one her daughter-in-law had.

"Quiet." James said in a commanding voice. He was looking all around the cabin, as though looking for an intruder. Then there was a thud on the wall made by a tree branch and he spun around and pointed his wand at that wall. Ms Davis opened her mouth to tell him that it was just that, a tree branch, when Mr. Davis placed a hand over her mouth and pointed out of the window behind them. Ms Davis nearly passed out. A person wearing a black hood had just ducked from her sight as she looked at the window that was set over her sink. James, who standing in the middle of the living room now, had scene her glance, and saw the fear mount up in her.

"Was it a person wearing a black cloak?" James asked, wand now pointed at the window.

"Yes." Mr. Davis said hand still placed over his wife's mouth.

"Did they see you?" James asked, all the questions being asked in the same, almost monotone voice.

"Yes." James only nodded and slowly started to make a 360 turning. Taking in the entire cabin. Facing the Davis' there was a window behind them, the back wall of the cabin, over the sink, easy to gain access through. After a 90-degree turn to the left of the Davis' was a wall with pictures on it, no windows. James made a mental note '_left side from kitchen, safe to back up to.'_ Making another 90-degree turn, James now had his back to the Davis' _'And a windows ' _he thought. The door was on this wall, and on either side of the door was a widow, set low in the wall. Very easy access. Then before James could finish his full 360 turn, there was a crash and a scream from behind him.

* * *

The storm raged on outside, the rain falling and the winding howling as though in pain. Most people don't like working outside in this kind of weather. Yet, most people aren't Aurors tracking down a dangerous man. The howling of the wind that might trouble some people was taken as a blessing to the team of ten Aurors that had just apparated out of thin air in the woods surrounding a small cottage. There was three facing the front of the cottage and three facing the back. The last four were split up on the remaining either sides.

Even though the wind and rain had covered their arrival, the Aurors' still moved as little as possible and seemed to hardly be breathing. They stood still for a full five minutes, in which they had completely been soaked. Then, one Auror leaned out from behind the tree that concealed her view of the house, and took in the sight. A warm flicking light was coming out of the two windows that faced her. Slowly she brought her wand up to her mouth and talked into it as though it were a microphone.

"Shacklebolt, what entrances do you got?" Paige Summers whispered into her wand. Most would talk normal, for who would be able to hear her if they were not standing right next to her? Well lets just say that she had heard to many of Mad-Eye Moody's stories, and had herself, become some of his stories about things that can go wrong.

"I have three windows, ones not high at all. Easy access. I can see light from it, the others are higher up and dark." A voice whispered, coming out of Paige's wand.

"Tonks what do you have?" Paige asked in a whisper.

"I've got two windows, but there high up and dark." Tonks' voice whispered come from Paige's wand just as Shacklebolt had done.

"Adams, you?"

"No windows on this side." Was the whispered reply.

"Right, everybody listen up. Shacklebolt, you and your team are going to make the first move. Enter through the low-set window you have. I'll follow with Clancy and Miller through the front windows. Tonks, you and your team file in through Shacklebolt's window, Adams; you come in after my team. Do not use the doors, they might be hexed." Paige said into her wand, moving back behind her tree and facing the two boys that where crouched low behind shrubbery, they were able to see the house, but anyone inside the house could not see them. "Shacklebolt, started leading your team to the window. Do not enter until you are all assembled and have my go." Bring her wand away from her face Paige said to the boys,

"I'll go in the right window first, wait till I get away from the window then come through after me. Use the same window." The boys nodded their heads. Bring her wand back up to her mouth, Paige said, "My team is making our move now. Tonks and Adams, wait for my go." Paige said. Then with a gesture to the two boys, Paige slowly made her way out form behind the tree. When she heard the crunch of a twig, she wheeled around.

"Sorry. I know, I know, light steps and feel the ground with your feet before stepping fully." One of the boys said in a quick whisper.

"If you know, then do." Said Paige. Once she was clear of the trees, she slowly lowered herself to the ground. Then, she laid herself flat and started to make her way to the house, pulling and pushing herself forward with her forearms and knees. Under most circumstances, the Aurors' would have just cast a Disillusionment Charm and creped up to the house. But, as Paige had told the team before they set out, this was not a normal case. It was only that afternoon (or yesterday afternoon) that she had devolved the information of the attack she had been part of. She had said that she wanted to have something to go on before she got everyone wired up. The team of hand picked Aurors had been told that this man knew of Auror tactics so it would not be safe to go about things in the usual manner. Another thing out of the ordinary was not entering through the dark windows. True, they would have been a little harder to get into, but Paige had said that again, this man knew Auror movements, and he would expect that. A full frontal attack would be less expected, giving them the upper hand. And then of course there was the fact that Dumbledore had personally asked her to keep the damage to a minimum as there were two old people who might die of a heart attack if things were made too much of a mess.

Once she reached the house, Paige pulled herself as close to the wall without touching it as possible, then, just as slowly, she flipped over and gently leaned her back on the cabin wall. She watched as the two boys followed her and did the same. She turned her head and looked left and right, then brought her wand up to her mouth and asked,

"Shacklebolt, in position?"

"Yes." Paige was just about to tell Shacklebolt to stand and get his team ready to go through the window when, next to her, she heard something that made her heart stop.

"AACHUU!" wheeling her head to the left Paige looked at the boy next to her who was as pale as a ghost and was pointing a trembling finger at the boy next to him, who, if it was possible, was even paler then his friend. Furious, she glanced up at the window that was two feet away from the boy who sneezed and brought her wand up to her mouth and whispered furiously,

"We may have been compromised. Everyone still for a moment." She whispered into her wand. "Shacklebolt, get ready to enter, Tonks, Adams, move into your positions now." She said after a moment. There was no way that James would have missed that if he was inside whatever room that was. With one last glare at the boy, Paige slowly began to stand upright, still leaning against the house. Then a branch hit the wall and she froze.

"One of my team was seen by an old women and man." Shacklebolt's voice said, coming out of Paige's wand. '_How many bloody things can go wrong?'_ Paige thought.

"Alright, on my word Shacklebolt. Tonks and Adams, you finish your move to position on my word too. One…two…NOW!" Paige heard a crash of glass breaking and then a scream. Taking a step away from the house and in front of the window, Paige pointed her wand at the window and yelled "REDUCTO!" and watched as the glass burst. Not waiting a second, Paige grabbed either side of the window frame and climbed through. The sight that greeted her was Shacklebolt and James dueling. The other members of his team were bringing the muggles to another room. Knowing that it would be best for everyone, James especially, if this ended quickly, Paige pointed her wand at James' back, which was facing her and yelled,

"STU-" but was cut off when from, outside of the cottage, she heard someone yell for her. Turning and looking out of the window, Paige saw the lights of spells being fired from the woods toward the house and spells from the house being fired into the woods. They were under attack. "EVERY AUROR THAT IS IN THIS HOUSE, GET OUTSIDE AND DEFEND!" Paige yelled at the top of her lungs, still watching the lights of all different colors coming from the woods. Then, thinking that she couldn't hear anything else to make this night worse, she heard a strangled cry from behind her and turned to see Shacklebolt hit the floor. She had left James with him for to long. James then spun around and began firing spells at Paige. There was no time for this. Some how Voldemort knew that James was back and here and had sent Death Eaters to collect him.

"James, listen to me. The bad guys are in the woods. The ones in the cabin and surrounding the cabin are the good guys." Paige said while blocking the curses James was throwing at her. James didn't answer. "Alright, um, Sirius!" She yelled, when she thought of something that might make James believe her. "When Regulus died, Sirius felt upset, and that pissed him off." She said quickly. Again, she heard her name being called from outside. It sounded like Tonks. James faltered a little at what Paige had said, but it was enough. "STUPEFY!" she yelled. And the jet of red light hit James in the shoulder, but it was enough to knock him out.

"Ennervate," She said, pointing her wand at Shacklebolt. His eyes snapped opened and he quickly got to his feet. Hearing the noise outside and seeing James laying on the floor stunned he asked,

"What's going on?"

"There's no time. You have to get him to the Ministry. Listen to me Kingsley, this man really is James Potter; I can't explain now, just get him to the Ministry and place him in a containment cell. Do not let anything happen to him. Understand?" Paige didn't even wait for Shacklebolt to nod before she yelled at him to go. She watched as Shacklebolt pulled off a necklace with a large pendent from around his neck, grab James' arm and start to activate the Portkey. Staying only to give them cover, Paige waited until they were gone and ran down the darkened hallway looking for were those kids put the muggles. They had to get out of here. Finding them in one of the bedrooms (both of them stunned and laying on the bed), Paige grabbed a lamp that was on the bed table and turned it into a Portkey. Placing their hands on the lamp she it activated the Portkey, but this time she didn't wait to see them away. Sprinting from the room, Paige ran back to the window she came in through and dived out, knowing that she would be harder to hit that way.

Once outside she started firing curses and backed up against the wall, in a line with the boys she had been with before and some of Adams' team. It wasn't long before she heard Tonks' voice again, coming from not to far away from her.

"There's to many!"

"WE HAVE WHAT WE CAME FOR! RETREAT!" Paige yelled, both, into the night and into her wand. Instantly, she heard pops and cracks all around her. Knowing that she had to get away herself, Paige apparated as well.

* * *

_Potter Family Mausoleum Break in and Attack on a Search Team_

_On November 1st, there was a break in at the Potter Family Mausoleum. It seems that when the caretaker of the cemetery found this madman, he was attacked. Responding to magic in a muggle area, the law enforcement was send immediately. Yet once arriving on the scene, and seeing the man attacking the muggle, he was stunned. A team of two Aurors were then sent to take care of the problem. Only problem was they lasted hardly longer then the first. _

_To put a stop to the madness, and to be blunt, disgrace of the Magical Law Enforcement and the Auror Division, Senior Auror Paige Summers set out to find this man who was causing so much trouble. Even more so then wanting to keep the Ministry form embarrassment, Miss Summers wanted to find the man that had broken into her old, and first, partner's family tomb. Upon arriving at the Mausoleum, Summers saw that the tomb of James Potter had been blown open. On further expectation, she saw the tomb was empty. There was no body to be found. _

"_As I'm sure anyone can image, I wanted to find the person reasonable of this disgrace as soon as possible," Summers said at a Press meeting last night when she, at last, ended the rumors that had been flying about. Summers went on to say that she indeed tracked the man down, but he got away from her. But not before revealing another, sickening, aspect of this crime. "The man was identical to James Potter at the age of 22." (For picture of James Potter turn to page 4 where this article continues) She said that she was still working on finding his location, but she felt that she was close enough to let everyone know what she was keeping hidden. Though Summers seemed to have still been keeping things to herself. _

_News reached the '_Daily Prophet'_ this morning that a team of Aurors was taken to a site where they believed the "Potter-Poser" was. They did indeed find him. But, it would seem he was not alone. Before the "Potter-Poser" could be taken under control, the team was attacked. All of the team made it back to the Ministry alive, but the identities of the attackers was never found out. The only good news the Auror Department seemed to be able to give was that they had captured the "Potter-Poser". _

_Summers stated that she did not want to reveal the events that could have lead to the death of 10 or so Aurors until she had something for the Aurors to work with, but can we take her word? As readers from the time when Who-Know-Who was still in power will remember, Ms Summers was involved with the infamous Sirius Black. So we must all ask ourselves, can we take the word of a woman who, as an Auror, was sleeping with a Death Eater without knowing? While the Ministry stands behind Ms Summers that she was just in her actions, many will have to wait until the Ministry releases the results from the tests that are going to be performed on the "Potter-Poser". _

_Story continues on pages 4, 5 and 6._

Ron let out a low whistle, leaning away from Hermione as he finished reading the article. Hermione just nodded, and looked around the Great Hall as Harry took to staring at his plate, taking in what he had just read in the article.

"I think we should head back up to the common room." Hermione said in an undertone as the people who got the '_Daily Prophet'_ began spiting out there Pumpkin Juice from the shock of what the were reading. Harry looked up in time to see someone from the Hufflepuff table look at him and then sprit out of the Great Hall, _Prophet_ in hand.

"Yeah, think that would be best." Harry said, looking away from the students of the hall who began to whisper and point. He glanced up at the Staff table as he, Ron, and Hermione rose from the table and he saw that the teachers that had been looking at him funny last week seemed to be the least surprised out of all the staff. Harry couldn't help but notice the nasty look Umbridge was giving the paper that she was holding, clearly she wasn't happy.

"Come on," Ron mumbled, tugging at Harry's elbow. It was then that Harry noticed how much the Hall had filled up in a matter of minutes, the looks he was getting from his classmates, and the whispering that seemed to be a roar that filled the Great Hall. They began to walk out of the Great Hall, at a faster speed then usually, when Hermione stopped turned back and grabbed the paper and they nearly ran out of the hall. Once they reached the marble staircase Hermione said in a soft tone,

"Um, do you want me to cast the charm Harry?"

"I donno, I think you could pull off a look of overwhelmed." Ron said casting a sidelong glance at Harry who was being very quite.

"Do it anyway. We have defense. I have to look my worst for Umbridge." Harry said. Then they saw two second year Gryffindor walk past them on their way to the Great Hall when Harry added, "Wait till we get to the common room." Ron stretched his arm in front of Harry and held his hand palm up to Hermione, indicting that he wanted to see the paper. Hermione handed it him. As they stopped to wait for a staircase to move over to them, Ron unfolded the article and was looking at the picture that was to the right of it. It was of a women wearing Auror robes standing in front of a Podium speaking to a crowd of people that were pushing each other about to get closer to her. Not really wanting to think about the article, what it held, and how the school was reacting, Harry watched the occupants of the paintings on the walls move about. Then, to his displeasure, he saw a figure run into the frame and whisper something to the mother that was reading a book to a child. Harry had a nasty feeling what the whisper was about. And when the mother's eyes widened and flew to Harry, his feeling was confirmed.

"You guys think this is the same Summers that came into the Great Hall last week?" Ron asked as the staircase came to a stop in front of them at last and they began to climb it.

"Probably was. Sirius said that it was an old friend of his and dads that found my dad and brought him to Headquarters." Harry said, watching as the occupants of the pictures surrounding them were moving from one picture to another, all the while whispering. To Harry's surprise, Ron let out a snort of laughter at Harry's words. It was only when Ron saw the looks that Harry and Hermione were giving him did he explain.

"Sirius said that she was his friend, well according to this, they were a little more then that." Ron said, holding up the newspaper and wiggling his eyebrows. Harry let out his on snort of laughter, though it was more at Ron then on what the paper had said about his Godfather. Hermione let out an annoyed sigh.

"Oh Ron, that is the same paper that calls Harry an attention seeking little liar. Are you really going to sink so low and listen to whatever they have to say?" Hermione said as they reached the Fat Lady's corridor.

"Oh, right." Ron said.

"You know, I wonder why they didn't bring me up." Harry said as they reached the Fat Lady. "Blibbering Humdinger." Harry said to the Fat Lady who was eyeing him oddly. _'News had really traveled this fast?'_ Harry thought as the portrait opened. There were not many people in the common room, but as soon as they saw Harry step into the room a hush fell over them all. Looking around, Harry saw the person in the painting that had told the Mother holding the child about what was in the paper, standing in the painting with the men playing cards. News really did travel fast. It was a nudge in the shoulder that got Harry moving again, and he headed toward his dorm. '_This is going to be a long day.'_

* * *

'_This is going to be a long day.'_ Paige thought as she sat at her desk with her head in her hands, rubbing her temples. The Press Conference last night had been just as she expected, Hell on Earth. And to day wasn't looking so hot either. There had to be some kind of class that people who wanted to be Reporters had to take that taught them how to become such heart-less blood sucking motherfuckers. They just had to bring the Sirius thing up didn't they?

"Summers," A voice said from the door of her office. Looking up through the mix of hands and hair that had fallen into her face Paige saw Shacklebolt.

"Yeah," she said lower her hands and straightening up. At first, Paige was a little hesitant to take him and his with her on the case, but there were two things that decided it for her. One was that it would look good; it would look as though she thinks that Sirius is behind it and she wants the best to help catch his ass. Then, there was Dumbledore saying that he wanted him and Tonks there because they're Order members and Tonks had already met James.

"They've had the imposter in the containment cell since we brought him here at 3:45 am." He said, stepping into her office and sitting down in one of the chairs that she had facing her desk. Her office was a very odd one. Were most would think that the old bitch would have only "grown up" things in her office, she had just as many Quidditch posters and Weird Sister Posters as any of the younger Aurors. There were also pictures of her and her friends at Hogwarts up to her fourth year, and then the pictures of her and her friends at the ages from 18 to 22. And, if someone looked close enough at some of the group pictures she had, you could see Sirius Black. Trying to get into her office and see one of the pictures she had of Black was often a dare, or command, giving to new Aurors. It was only the older ones that new she had a kind of sick sense of humor about everything that had happen between her and Black. Kingsley's eyes snapped away from the poster she had behind her of the Weird Sister's when she started to speak.

"Was there any Polyjuice detected?" she asked shuffling some of her parchment around, looking for the one she had started her notes on. She knew that this whole thing was pointless; Shacklebolt (who made a quick stop at Hogwarts to talk to Dumbledore at 4:30 am) knew that it was pointless, but they both still had to do all the damn paper work as though it were real.

"No. But, and I never knew this, no one would have been able to use Polyjuice potion anyway." Shacklebolt said. Paige looked up at him, eyebrows raised. "Yeah I know. This kid that was working near the cell we put him in heard us mention Polyjuice and said that there couldn't have been. He said that for Polyjuice to work, the piece of the person you're changing into has to be fresh."

"Fresh?" Paige asked, stopping her search for her parchment to stare at Kingsley.

"Yup. He said that it couldn't be more then a month old. And the older the piece is, the less time you have as that person." Paige leaned back in her chair thinking that over. She didn't get to far in her thoughts because Scrimgeour entered her office, without knocking, and said,

"Are you ever going to question the imposter? Because if you wont, if it's to much for you to handle, I'll be more then willing." He said walking over to her desk and standing in front of it. Then he looked at Kingsley and a small, nasty, smirk started to form on his face. "My, I didn't know that you were close with the man that's tracking down Black Summers." He said.

"I am on my way to question him now. I want to head this case. There will never be a need for you to ever take one of my cases, and get the fuck out of my office." Paige said, standing and picking up some of the parchment off of her desk. Knowing that if she didn't leave then that Scrimgeour would keep questioning her, Paige walked around her desk and out of her office to go and question James.

* * *

Ever remember forgetting something? Not the easiest thing to describe to someone, and even less easy to explain to yourself. James knew that this wasn't right. That something wasn't right with this whole thing. He remembered feeling this sadness that he was feeling now, and he remembered it going away, and that he felt happy. The same kind of happy he had felt when he held Harry for the first time. He remembered feeling that way, and it seemedlike a new feelingto him. But how on earth could he feel that happy? Now that Harry and Lily were…

One thing that he was thankful for was that he recognized the place he was. Not that it was a good thing he was there, it was just nice to know where he was with his world spinning out of control. Currently, he was sitting in one of the containment cells at the Ministry. True he had never seen the containment room from this side of the questioning table, but it was unmistakably the Ministry. Only the Ministry would be dumb enough to make a kid stand watch over him. Voldemort would have had all of his favorites taking their turns "playing" with him. James put his elbows on the table and his face in his hands. Why wouldn't they just question him, and let him go grieve in peace? Was it not enough that he was suffering from losing his family and friends that he had to suffer from hungry as well? Letting out a humorless chuckle at what Lily would say if she heard him thinking about his stomach at a time like this, James pressed his palm into his eyes to keep from crying.

"He hasn't really done anything expect stare at the wall and rub his face with his hands." A voice said from outside. James brought his hands away from his face and looked at the window set in the door. He could only see that boy that would look in every few minutes, but James assumed that he was speaking with whoever was going to be questioning him.

"Thank you." He heard a female voice say, and then before he could place the voice, the door opened and the guard walked in and held it open. Then Paige Summers walked in carrying a stack of parchment. It couldn't be her though; it had to be a death eater. But, this place had to be the Ministry though. He had thought it all through before; Voldemort would never leave him unattended like they had. It just _couldn't_ be her though! How could she had lived this long? She was just as nuts as he was, risky, impulsive… Following her was the man that had attacked him at the Davis' home. He had to be a death eater. Then a thought came to him, they were both death eaters posing as Aurors, working from the inside.

"Right, I want this all done quickly, so tell me, are we going to have to get some veritaserum?" She asked James, set the papers down on the table and pulling out a chair to sit. Paige hadn't even waited for the rest of the people to file into the room. There was a redhead court scribe; one of Fudge's lackeys no doubt, and another guard that would stand behind James, wand at the ready. Upon hearing Paige start to talk, the sight was really rather funny, the scribe and the guard seemed to become all flustered and the scribe nearly dropped his ink in his hurry to take his seat and began writing. Turning his full attention back to the women, he wasn't sure whether to think of her as Paige or as an imposter yet, James said,

"That depends on what you're going to ask." She just nodded and made a mark on one of her papers. James then noticed something that was a defiant Paige trait; she was using a ballpoint pen. It was something that Paige was known for because she had such bad luck with inkbottles and quills.

"Right then. Who are you?" She said looking up at him.

"James Potter." James answered. Paige just looked down at her paper and made another mark. The reactions of the other people in the room was a little more interesting. The man that he had been dueling with the night before, was gazing coolly at him (probable pissed that he got stunned) and just raised an eyebrow, the scribe nearly broke his ink again, and James heard an intake of shocked breath from the guard behind him.

"Alright, if you wont corporate," Paige said looking at James then moving her gaze over his shoulder. "Could you please administer the veritaserum" She said. James heard movement from behind him but didn't turn around to look. He was almost sure that it really was Paige and he knew that if he looked it would seem as though he were nervous, like he had something to hide. So he kept eye contacted with her as someone moved and was now standing at his side.

"Open you mouth." A voice said. It was obvious that the speaker was trying to sound tough but was failing. James wordlessly opened his mouth and felt, one, two, three drops of veritaserum fall onto his tongue. He felt the affects at once. _'Hope the scribe doesn't destroy his notes when he spills his ink,' _James was able to think as Paige asked the first question.

"What is your name?"

"James Harry Potter the Third."

* * *

Sirius paced the floor, running a hand through his hair every tenth step. Remus was sure that it was ever tenth step, because he had started counting. It had taken awhile to remove all of James' memories that wouldn't look good if the Ministry came to find them. But once they were all out, Sirius and Remus had to watch as Dumbledore led James out of the house. They couldn't have any contact with him until he got out of the Ministry and got his memories back. Cause if they did, James would remember it and they were running low on time. Dumbledore said that James would get the feeling that he's just forgotten something and he wont be as violent as when had first found him because, in his heart, he knew that he still had Harry. He would think that Harry and Lily were both dead, but he wouldn't feel that grief as he had. And ever since James had left Sirius had been a nervous wreck.

"How long do you think they're going to keep him again?" Sirius asked Remus, stopping his pacing for a moment to look at Remus who was sitting in an armchair. They had taken up to waiting in the Drawing Room for any news both getting bored of the kitchen scenery. And there were some rays of the afternoon sunlight dancing across the dark carpet.

"Dumbledore said that they might release him to Hogwarts on Friday." Said Remus. Sirius nodded and then started his pacing again. He opened his mouth to ask another question but the sound of the doorbell and Ms Black's screams stopped him.

"I'll get it. You stay here." Remus said standing from his chair and making his way from the room. Walking quickly down the stairs, Remus moved toward the portrait first. After a moment, he was able to pull the curtains of Sirius' mum shut and put a stop to her ranting about half-breed werewolves. Moving toward the door now, Remus pulled out his wand to undo the many locks. Once the door was opened Remus was greeted with the sight of a very pale Molly Weasley.

"Molly," Remus said standing aside so she could come in. He was surprised to see her. They all were expecting Order members to come and ask what was going on, but since the Weasley's canceled their subscription to the _Prophet _they weren't expecting them until the meeting Dumbledore was planning on holding that night.

"Oh Remus, Arthur just flooed me to tell me. What is Voldemort playing at? Has Sirius or anyone spoken to Harry about it? Oh, the poor dear what he must be going through!" Molly said franticly as she made her way into the house, heading toward the kitchen. Remus placed a hand on her shoulder and said,

"No, come up to the Drawing Room. Sirius and myself will explain everything to you."

* * *

A.N-Gasp could it be? A chapter that the author is happy with? Eh, kind of. I'm not so sure I like the ending, but I do like the rest of it, which is new for me. Thank you all for the reviews for the last chapter. I loved them, like always. My presentation and report for English went fine and I gotta say, nothing gets me writing chapters like your reviews and when I have homework or studying to do. Isn't that odd?

Fill my mailbox with reviews and you'll be my favorite people!

Till next time!

Oh, and just a little teaser for the 308 reviews you guys have given me, words can tell you guys how happy that makes me. So, heres a teaser instead…

_When they got outside the press was already waiting for them._

"_Mr. Potter, tell everyone how it feels to be coming out of a fourteen year coma?_

_"Mr. Potter, tell us what your first thoughts were upon waking up inside a tomb!"_

_"Mr. Potter, tell us what it feels like to know that your son has face, or is claiming to have faced, You-Know-Who more times as you have?"_


	20. Still Breathing

_'Walk Percy. Don't run. How on earth would it look if the Minister's Junior Assistant was running through the hallways?' _Percy Weasley thought to himself as he made his way from the containment cells back to the Minister's office. But he was having a hard time following through with his thoughts. After all, what he had just heard… Impatiently Percy hit the up button on the lift and waited for it to come. While he waited he couldn't help but look over his shoulder, back in the direction of… Percy's thoughts of what had just happened were broken by the sound of the lift doors opening. Stepping in, Percy saw some members of the Press all with the quills out, all looking eagerly down the hall. After the grate closed and their vision was block did they give Percy a look over. But, it being only Percy, their faces fell. Of course, Percy knew what they were doing.

The press was allowed to be on the Magical Law Enforcement floor, the Ministry could not deny their right. But, it was common knowledge that while there was a prisoner on the floor, being questioned, it would be in everyone's best interest if the press wasn't buzzing around looking for stories. During the war, they had been a few times when a prisoner would yell things at the press that the Ministry didn't want made public, which needless to say upset the Ministry quite a bit. Yet the Ministry's unhappiness was not what kept the press standing in lifts trying to see what, or if anything, was happening. It was Mad-Eye Moody that kept the reporters at bay. Mad-Eye had a death eater in the containment cell ready to be questioned. It was big news because this death eater was though to have some information that would be every valuable. But some how, another death eater had gotten into the Ministry, and into the cell, and killed the prisoner. Needless to say, Mad-Eye wasn't happy. And a reporter was unlucky enough to be one of the first people to get in his way.

"Level One. The Ministry of Magic's office." The witch that spoke in the lift said. Stepping out of the lift, Percy walked briskly over to the Minister's secretary. The first level of the Ministry is the only one that has any really windows, not the magical ones that were used everywhere else, as it was in fact on ground level. And they were large windows indeed. They were in the center of the walls and where in length about four feet, casting the room with wonderful rays of sunshine.

From looks alone, the whole floor seems to be about the same size as the Auror Headquarters. But it was much grander looking the Auror Headquarters. Where the Auror room is divided up into cubicles and things of that such, the Minister's lobby was wide and open. At the opposite side of the lifts there was a very comfortable sitting area. There was a large carpet with beautiful designs and colors that was said to be the magic carpet that the Ministers used to travel on before carpets were declared a muggle artifact. Surrounding the carpet were large, tan leather couches. And at each end of the couches was an end table with a vase full of roses and baby's breath, each vase of roses were charmed to be one of the colors of the carpet.

Even though the floor looked to be only the size of the Auror Headquarters, the fact is that the _lobby _is only the size of the Auror Headquarters. It was on this floor that important visitors from other countries stated when they came to do business with the Ministry. Though they could not be seen (a password had to be said to the right part of the wall for the door to appear), all along the mahogany walls were doors that led to large magnificent rooms, all fit to last a person a weeks stay a the very least. Yet, even with many rooms hidden behind the walls, in the lobby itself, the furniture and the desk of the Minister's secretary were the only things to be seen. Percy's own office was behind the door that was across the hall from the Minister's.

"Shannon, is the Minister in his office?" Percy asked once he reached the secretary's desk. She didn't even look up from the parchment she was reading when she answered him in an annoyed voice.

"The Minister is very busy today Mr. Weasley. He said not to be disturbed." It was almost every day that she had to repeat this line to Percy.

"Could you just send a memo into his office telling him that I really need to speak with him. It is a topic of a very serious nature." Percy said.

"Minister Fudge said that he does not wish to be disturbed. Memos are classified as a disturbance." She said, still not looking up from the parchment. Percy sighed and looked at the large wooden doors that were to the right of Shannon's desk. On each of the doors there was a large brass doorknocker with an "M" on it written in script. For one moment, Percy felt his reason slip away as he thought about just running over to the door and pounding on the door and yelling at the top of his lungs what only four people in the whole world knew. But, to his relief, the feeling went away.

"The second the Minister steps out of his office tell him that I must speak with him, that it is very, very important." Percy said, thinking it was the only thing he could do. When Shannon didn't give him any response, Percy just assumed she had heard him and was going to make a note of it as soon as he walked away. "I'll be in my office." Percy added as he started to walk across the floor to his office.

Percy had just put his hand on the doorknob when there was a loud bang, followed by another; though not as loud as the first, bang behind him. After working on the same floor as the Minister for many mouths now, Percy was not alarmed. The Ministry was merely agitated about something and threw this door open with such a force that it hit the wall and would swing back toward the Minister, who would again, push the door away from him. Turning quickly to tell the Minister about the development downstairs Percy saw that the Minister was not happy.

"Weasley! Tell me, what is the point of sending you important place if you won't report back to me with important news? Why is it that I had to hear that Summers is saying that she has _the_ James Potter downstairs, alive and as well as one in his position can be from the Wizard Wireless?" Fudge yelled approaching Percy with long strides.

"Sir, I tried to tell you but I wasn't aloud into your office," Percy began weakly, looking over Fudge's shoulder to look at Shannon, or glare at Shannon rather. But Fudge wouldn't have it.

"In my office now! I want a full report of what the hell happened down there!" Yelled Fudge turning on his heel and heading back into his office. Percy followed quickly behind him.

* * *

"Here, drink this." Paige said handing James a paper cup with water in it. James took it, glanced inside then drained it all in one. Crushing it with his hand James threw it to the side. "Never here of recycling?" Paige asked, trying to lighten the mood. 

"How the hell have you lived this long?" James asked, leaning back in his chair and surveying Paige. She let out a small chuckle and glance at Kingsley, who had stayed in the room with them when the guard and Weasley had ran out of the cell. Giving a cough and jerking her head to the door, Paige started pointedly at Kingsley.

"Right. I'll be just outside." He said, standing from his own chair. Both Paige and James watched him leave. Only when he was gone and the door was closed did Paige look back at James.

"James, I don't know how to tell you this. I wish I had asked how I was suppose to but…" She let out a sigh and then continued. "Voldemort, well let just say hasn't been around since you died, or whatever happened to you."

"You mean he's dead?" James asked eyes widening as he leaned forward in his chair.

"No, well not really. Or not any more," Paige said, slowly lower her voice to a whisper as she said the last part. Leaning forward in her chair closer to James, Paige began to speak in a hurried undertone. Who knew how much time they had before the Press came and broke down the door? "Alright, after Voldemort, did whatever he did to you, as um, I sure you saw he killed Lily." Paige said, faltering a little. "But, when he tried to kill Harry, the curse backfired and hit Voldemort and left Harry alive."

"Harry's alive!" James yelled standing up so fast that he knocked the chair over. His son, his boy was alive. It was odd, James thought, how this wonderful news, wasn't as shocking as you would think it would be for him.

"Yes he is, now please I now this is hard to ask but please sit down." Paige said glancing at the door where Kingsley was looking threw the little window with a look the clearly said 'everyone out here heard that'. James, clearly a little on the dazed side, sat. Paige went on. "He's fifteen, in his fifth year at Hogwarts and is in Gryffindor. Um, well that's all that's important for now. And now I know this is going to sound very weird but you already know a lot about him and very soon your going to meet him. But you can't let anyone know what I just told you." Paige said.

"What that Harry is alive?" James asked still in a state of complete bliss.

"No, that I told you that you know a lot about him already." Paige said. James opened his mouth to say something but Kingsley reentered the room and he stopped.

"Word leaked to the Press. That kid must have said something. From the sound of it, there not sure if they believe that the "Potter-Poser" is really him but you staying in here so long after the others left is raising some eyebrows." He said in his deep calming voice. Paige sighed.

"What about Fudge? Word gotten to him yet?" She asked.

"Fudge? That bloke that works in Magical Catastrophes? What does he got to do with anything?" James asked confused.

"He's ass got Minister of Magic." Paige said dryly. Kingsley was slightly taken back by the manner in which Paige had just spoken. True, it was well known that she wasn't Fudge's number one supporter and that she wasn't really the runner up for world's best manners, but it was just different. James gaped at her, though for different reasons then Kingsley.

"Him? What happened to Crouch?" James asked. Paige opened her mouth to explain when there was a knock on the door and they all turned to look. Just as they were all looking the flash from a magical camera blinded them all.

"Guess they have their answer now," Paige said, looking at how she and James were seated on the same side of the table and how close. It didn't really look like she was questioning a death eater.

"What do you want to do now?" Kingsley said with his back to James and Paige, looking out of the window in the door, watching the person who had gotten the picture run like hell. Casting a sidelong glance at James, Paige said,

"Well, when Fudge finds out, he's gonna question you some more. So maybe we should get a head start. Get this all over with as soon as possible." Paige said standing.

"Where are you going to take him?" Kinsley asked turning around and staring at Paige. James was also looking at her. Where else was there to question people but the room he was in now?

"We'll take him up to the Minister's office."

"And how will we get him past the Press?" Kingsley asked, jerking his thumb over his shoulder at the door. Paige smiled a little.

"The first thing that we had to learn in training." She said looking at James who then understood.

"Diversionary tactics." They both said.

* * *

"So he really is back? It's really James?" Molly asked looking between Sirius and Remus. For what seemed like the hundredth time they nodded their heads. And then for the hundredth time Molly blew her nose in the handkerchief Remus had given to her when they started to tell her about James and Harry's meeting. If it were anyone else but Molly Weasley, the feelings between the two Potters would not have been shared. But, it was in fact Molly and when they tried to dance around how Harry felt about it, she just questioned them more and wouldn't take "He's fine with it," for an answer. Exchanging a glance with Sirius, who met it and rolled his eyes, Remus rose from his chair. 

"Molly, I am so sorry if this seems rude. But Sirius and myself have not slept since James left and we are very tired," Remus said in that calm, professor like voice that he had. Molly stood and started waving him off before he could even finish.

"Oh no I am so sorry. Of course I'll leave you two be. Goodness knows that you should get some sleep in before the Order meeting tonight. I am so sorry for keeping you so long it's just," Molly said, eyes starting to be come teary the longed she talked. Fearing that she might start crying again and it would take Remus another ten minutes to calm her down Sirius interjected.

"Not a worry Molly. We probably wouldn't have slept anyway. To busy worrying and rereading that damn paper over and over again." Sirius said, trying to assure her that everything was all right and lighten the mood at the same time. But, saying something about the _'Daily Prophet'_ was the wrong thing to do as it gave her another thing to ask about.

"Oh that reminds me, Arthur wanted me to ask if what the paper said about you and Paige Summers was true. I have no idea what he was talking about, but he just told me ask you." Molly said. Sirius glanced uncomfortably at Remus over Molly's head. He was worried about that coming up.

"Tell Arthur that I'm sure he's heard the rumors." Sirius said, vaguely, hoping that Arthur wouldn't tell Molly what the hell it was about. Sure, Sirius knew that it was no secret to anyone that he wasn't exactly the Virgin Mary. But, still, telling Molly Weasley whom one of the girls he had slept with was just made his inside squirm a little more then he wanted to admit.

"Alright, I'll tell him," Molly said eyeing Sirius a little skeptically. "Now, you two go upstairs and try to get some sleep." Molly said, easily striding into her mother hen role. "If you need anything, owl me and I will be here." She said standing; Sirius rose from his chair as well to walk her to the door. Once they, Remus had followed Molly and Sirius from the kitchen, reached the front door Molly turned to them and said in a whisper so not to wake Sirius' mother,

"Thank you boys, I was just so worried. I'll bring things for dinner after the meeting. You two sleep well." She said opening the door, and after one last tearful look, she walked out and closed the door behind her. Once she was gone Sirius turned to Remus said,

"About time. How come it took you so long to catch the eye rolls I was giving you, which clearly said, 'Remus, get her out of here before I rip my hair out!' Huh?" Sirius said, leading the way up the stairs.

"I saw the eye rolls Sirius," said Remus. "But I didn't do anything cause Molly was generally worried and concerned and it would have been rude to kick her out."

"Like you just did." Sirius answered back, not missing a beat.

"No, she was going to leave soon anyway."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Tell yourself that if it'll help you sleep. See you in a few hours." Sirius said as the reached the door to his bedroom. Remus nodded and continued his way a little further down the hallway where is own room was. But before he could get there Sirius said, "And if any owls come, wake me up alright?" Looking behind him at where he had left Sirius standing he saw that Sirius was looking uneasy.

"He'll be fine Sirius." Remus said turning around and facing Sirius, standing in the middle of the hallway. Sirius just nodded.

"But, if an owl does come,"

"I'll tell it to go and bother your ass instead of mine." Remus said, trying to smile reassuringly. It seemed to have worked, to some effect at least, because Sirius nodded his head again and opened the door to his room, entered and closed it behind him. Standing there in the middle of the hallway for a little bit, Remus thought about how Sirius had been taking all of this. And not just the James being questioned at the Ministry, but rather the whole James being here.

When Remus had first showed up at Grimmauld Place after hearing from Paige, Sirius seemed to be in a state of calm about it all. But, after being friends with Sirius Black for so long, Remus knew that the 'state of calm' was all just bullshit. If Sirius was really calm about something, he was cheerful, or lively, not just calm. Then, slowly he started to get adjusted to the fact that James was really here, there, whatever, James was with him. But the thing with Harry and then James going away to the Ministry seemed to throw Sirius back several feet. Sighing and walking finishing his walk to his bedroom, Remus couldn't help finding himself wishing that Paige would get things done at the Ministry quickly, cause, it was more then James', Harry's, and Sirius lives that were being affected by this whole thing.

* * *

Walking out into the hallway Kingsley looked around. Seeing someone that fit what he need, Kingsley's walked promptly over to a man hunched over his desk writing a report up on a piece of parchment that was already trailing off of his desk. Bending down low, close to the man's ear, Kingsley began whispering some instructions. Startled at first, the man nodded his head, set his quill down and followed as Kingsley led him away from his desk. Walking back into the containment cell where he had left James and Paige, followed by the man that he had told to follow him, Kingsley said,

"I got a guy that's about his height." Paige turned and looked at the confused man that was just inside the room, standing close to the door.

"He'll do." She said, taking in his black hair (not as messy as James') and about 5' 9 height. James also turned around to look and upon seeing James, the man gave a sort of cry of fear and reached for the door. But Kingsley beat him to it and stood in front of the door, blocking it. "This man is not a death eater. I'm sure that you've heard rumors?" Paige said, knowing that it would not look convincing if their diversion looked scared out of his wits. The man nodded.

"It's all over the Wizard Wireless." He answered in a shaky voice.

"What's your name?" James asked.

"J-jake Taylor." Jake said, stuttering a little.

"Well Jake, like Paige said, I'm not a death eater, Voldemort did something to me that kept me alive but I have no idea what he did, but I want to know what the hell he did. Another thing that I want, is to see my son, who, Paige just told me is alive. To do these things, I'll have to get people, namely Fudge, to believe that I'm really me so I can leave the Ministry and see my son. To do that, I need your help. Are you willing to help me Jake?" James asked him. Jake seemed to stand up a little straighter as he nodded his head. "Good, now here is what we're going to do."

Ten minutes later, Kingsley again walked out of the containment cell. But this time, he wasn't alone. Walking next to him was a man wearing a cloak with the hood pulled over his head. The second that his man was seen by the people going about their business on the Magical Law Enforcement floor, whispers began to break out and people flat out stared as the man walked by.

"Is that him Shacklebolt?" Some one yelled out in the crowd.

"No comment," Kingsley answered in his deep calm, but booming voice. This statement had an effect at once. Whispers turned into all out shouts. The Reports had ran of the lift, forgetting all about what Mad-Eye Moody did, their thoughts only on how much money they would get if they got a picture of James Potter before everyone else. People circled Kingsley and the man in the cloak, who was pulling the hood further down to cover his face.

"He's good." James Potter said as he walked right by a reporter who bent down to pick up their quill giving James a good view of Jake as he pulled the hood further over his face. Paige chuckled as they reached the lifts. Hitting the button, she turned and watched the crowed of people surrounding Jake and Kingsley.

"I feel bad though, how embarrassing it'll be when one of them finally pulls the hood down and everyone takes pictures of his pink hair." She said as the lift doors opened behind them. James stood to the side, out of sight from the lift; while Paige made sure that it was empty, which it was save for the memos flying overhead. They had changed James' appearance slightly by changing his hair color and eye color, just so that if any eyes wandered from Kingsley and Jake, they would just pass over James, seeing him as just another Ministry worker. But precautions still had to be taken so that if anyone got a good look at him, they wouldn't be able to tell who he was.

"Yeah, well, he had to have a reason to cover his head, and what better one then his girlfriend got pissed at him and sent him a cursed letter that turned his hair pink?" James asked as he stepped in the lift after Paige gave him the all clear.

"Leave it to you to know that you can send a hair color changing charm through a letter." Paige said, hitting the number one button a few times. "You know what you're gonna say to him?" Paige asked as the lift stopped and the doors began to open, knowing that James would know that she was talking about Fudge.

"Nope, not a clue. Figure I'll wing it." James said, stepping out and making his way over to the doors that led to the Minister's office.

"Wait," Paige said, pulling out her wand. James stopped and bowed his head slightly to her, showing her messy blonde hair (which in her opinion made him look like a little 12 year old boy) pointing her wand at James' head, she said, "_Finite Incantatem_." James hair changed before her eyes back to black and when he held his head up, she was met with hazel eyes. After a nod to show it worked, they continued their way to the Minister's office.

"He in there?" James asked as they reached Fudge's secretary's desk. She had looked up from her work when she heard the spell being cast and her eyes were still wide and her mouth was still open.

"Is the Minister in his office?" Paige asked. The women nodded her head, still staring at James. "With anyone?"

"Ye-yes. He is with his junior assistant." The secretary managed to get out. But James and Paige weren't listening, they hadn't even heisted in front of her desk when they were speaking to her, they just continued their way. "He-hey! You, you can't go in there!" She said, coming to her senses a little when they reached the door.

"Sure we can. We have a matter of utmost importance that we need to speak with the Minister about." Paige said as she grasped one of the doorknockers, banged it three times while she was talking and the opened the door without waiting for an answer. In horror, Shannon watched as they both walked into the Minister's office and before the door was closed she heard,

"Minister Fudge, good-afternoon. There is something that you must be enlightened about."

* * *

For the hundredth time that day, Harry let out a great sigh and ran his hands through his hair, pulling at it at the same time. Thus resulting in his hair standing completely on end. For the life of him he could not concentrate on a damn thing that Flitwick was saying. Now his hands, which seemed to need something to do, where rubbing his eyes under his glasses. 

"Harry, why don't you just put your head down or something? I'm sure that Professor Flitwick would understand." Hermione's whispered voice said from his left.

"Yeah, then just skive off next class. Go back up to the dorm." Ron's whispered voice said from his right.

"Yes, maybe you should Harry." Hermione said. This got Harry's, and Ron's, attention. Both turned their heads and looked at her with looks of confusion and on Ron's part admiration. Seeing their looks Hermione added, "Well really, what teacher would expect you in class?"

"Snape would." Harry said folding his arms on his desk and laying his head down on them. There was silence from both of his sides and Harry knew that the discussion was over. Or, at least he thought it was over.

"Go to McGonagall and ask her if you can be excused from the rest of your classes today, and that you'll get all the work you missed from Ron and me." Hermione said. With his head still resting on his arms Harry turned his head to look at Hermione. She wasn't even looking at him, she was still taking notes on what Filtwick was talking about, looking as though she had just told Harry that it was raining out, not that he should miss classes for the rest of the day. Shaking his head, Harry readjusted so that his head was in the crook of his arms and all he could see was the desk and the parchment that he had taken out of some reason.

The Overwhelmed spell that Hermione had cast on him once they had reached his and Ron's dorm had really taken affect. From the moment the spell started working, all Harry could think about was what he had to tell his dad, what people were going to, and were, saying to him, and what had already happened between him and his father. He wished that Sirius had told him just what the spell would do to him, cause he would have just acted overwhelmed if he had known that the spell would make him feel depressed as well as overwhelmed.

To Harry's relief, the bell rang meaning that they just had one more class to go before lunch. Standing up slowly and keeping his eyes downcast, Harry started to pack away his belongings. It had been somewhat shocking to look up at the end of his first class and see everyone staring at him. And not just staring as they made their way out of the classroom, some had stopped and where just standing there, staring, in the middle of the hallways. Ron and Hermione were packing slowly too so that it wouldn't look odd with them all ready to go and just standing around Harry. Finally all packed they made their way out of the classroom.

"Harry," said a voice from behind him. Trying to suppress a sigh, Harry turned around. It was Cho. They both just stood there for a little bit, Harry waiting to see what she was going to say, and Cho trying to find the words of whatever she was going to say. Even in his miserable state, Harry took notice of something; his stomach didn't get all tight like it usually did when he talked to Cho. But maybe he was just so miserable that he couldn't really get the fact that Cho Chang was talking to him, again, of her on free will.

"Oh Harry," she finally ended up saying following it with the unexpected. She hugged him. Wide-eyed Harry looked at Ron and Hermione who were standing off to the side for help. Ron was standing there looking just as shocked as Harry felt but Hermione was making patting motions with her hand. Getting the hint, but still bewildered, Harry patted Cho's back in what he hoped was a comforting manner. "I'm sorry," She said when she finally pulled away. "I should be comforting you, not the other way around. I read the paper and I want you to know that if you want to talk or anything, you can come to me. Okay?" she said. And Harry was even further bewildered to see tears in her eyes. Harry nodded dumb and Cho gave him a watery smile and then turned and walked away.

"What the hell was that about?" Ron asked as soon as Cho was out of hearing distance.

"You know, I think I'm gonna go to McGonagall and ask if I can take the day off." Harry said, running a hand through his hair and turning the other direction heading for the transfiguration wing. This day was turning out to be too much for him.

"What, what is going on here?" Fudge yelled when James and Paige had filed into his office. It was a large office, with walls of cherry wood that framed degrees and portraits of all Ministers hung on. The floor was carpeted black and in the center the "M" that was on the doorknocker was stitched in gold. Behind the Ministers desk was a large window, which was enchanted, like the majority of the windows in the Ministry. The Minister's desk was very large and, also, made out of Cherry wood. And the Minister that was sitting behind the desk, looked like a cherry resulting from the lovely shade of red his face turned upon seeing who was walking into his office.

"Minister, there is no need to call for more Aurors. I am already here." Paige said when she saw his hand inch toward a button that, when presses, would cause five of the best Aurors to apparate into the office to protect the Minister at all costs.

"What is the meaning of his Summers? Why did you bring this mad man here?" Fudge barked out his questions.

"This man Minister," Paige said walking forward and sitting in one of the chairs that were arranged in front of Fudge's desk. Percy was already sitting in one and was staring at James as though he thought James might explode at any moment. "Is not a mad man." She went on as James took the remaining chair, which happened to be on the other side of Percy. "As I'm sure Mr. Weasley as already told you, under veritaserumthis man admitted to being James Potter." Paige said, gesturing toward James.

"There are ways to get around veritaserum." Fudge said, now with his hands out of sight. Paige could only assume that he was reaching for his wand, which the thought alone made her have to hold back a snort of laughter.

"Yes there are Minister." Paige said with a small nodded of the head. "But I asked questions that only the real James Potter would know."

"And what questions would those be?" Fudge spat.

"Well, there is no need to take my word for it, your assistant wrote down everything that was said. Surely you do not doubt him?" Paige said. Fudge opened his mouth to say something but stopped at the sound of someone knocking on the door.

"SHANNON! WHAT WAS NOT CLEAR WHEN I SAID I WISHED NOT TO BE DISTURED?" Fudge yelled. But, the door opened anyway.

"I'm sorry Minister but he said that it was of matters most important." His secretary said stepping inside, closely followed by Albus Dumbledore.

"A thousand apologies Cornelius, but as I'm sure you remember I was very close to," Dumbledore began, but stopped when he saw James sitting there. Dumbledore stared for a moment then said, "And the meaning of this would be?"

"I am trying to figure that out myself Dumbledore." Fudge spat.

"Headmaster, under veritaserum this man said he was James Potter. And, when asked questions that only James would know the answer to, he answered correctly." Paige said, while thinking that Dumbledore was one hell of an actor.

"I see." Was all that Dumbledore said, still staring at James from over his half-moon glasses.

"It's really me Albus," James said, feeling the strong need to speak up for himself. When Dumbledore didn't respond, James tried a different tactic. "Got any Lemon Drops on you?" Not even that worked, and it worked every time he and Sirius got into trouble and were sent to the Headmaster's office. "Look, if you think that some how I got around the veritaserum, ask me something. Ask me anything." James said standing from his seat and turning to face Dumbledore, arms spread wide open.

"I don't have time for this! This man cannot possible be James Potter! James Potter is dead! He was hit with an Unforgivable Curse!"

"Minister, it is all in the notes that your,"

"No I didn't! He didn't cast,"

"What was in the letter you wrote to me after you received the Head Boy badge?" Dumbledore's calm voice asked.

"I wrote to you saying that you gave me Remus' badge. But that it was okay, that I would pass it along to him. And, that if you had intentionally gave me the badge, and made me Head Boy, had you taken a shot to the head from a bludger?" James rattled off. Dumbledore continued to stare at James, then said,

"Mr. Weasley, my I see these notes that have been discussed?" Dumbledore asked. Percy shuffled through the parchment he had on his lap, trying to put them in order. Once sure that they were in order Percy got up and walked over to where Dumbledore was standing, and handed them to him. The office was silent as Dumbledore read Percy's notes. Casting a sidelong glance at Paige, James was a little shocked to see her look so calm with his fate up in the air like this. True, James completely trusted Dumbledore and was sure that the Headmaster of Hogwarts would believe him, but still.

"Minister, I believe that this man should be questioned again." Dumbledore said at last looking up at Fudge.

"There is no time for this Dumbledore! We can start handing out veritaserum for every crackpot story to every crackpot person!" Fudge yelled, banging his fist on the table.

"Why are you fighting this so hard? Albus Dumbledore is asking you to do something, why the hell are you not listening to him?" James asked, getting very fed up with how Fudge was speaking to Dumbledore.

"James," Paige hissed but it was too late, Fudge's face was even redder then a cherry, moving toward a magenta color.

"I am the Minister of Magic. Not Albus Dumbledore. What I say goes. I don't know who you are, but you had better remember that." Fudge said through gritted teeth.

"Of course it does Cornelius, and, I do believe that this man's action acts as another reason that he should be questioned again. For, who would not know to treat the Minister of Magic with the utmost respect expect for someone who just learned who the Minister was?" Dumbledore said, walking a little closer to where Percy, James and Paige sat.

"Well, I don't, but…" Fudge stammered, clearly flustered.

"Minister, think of how it would look to stand out side of this office and tell people that James Potter is alive and that the death count of the War with Voldemort just went down one. That the Wizarding World is really being repaired." Paige said, trying to appeal to Fudge's weakness, which was the public thinks of him. And it worked; the color of Fudge's face lessened slightly and one could see the wheels turning in his mind.

"Fine. We'll question he once more. And in my presence." Fudge said finally.

* * *

"Harry? Mate wake up." Rolling over to his side, Harry tried to block out the voice that had woken him up. When he had gone to McGonagall and asked if he could miss classes today and make up the work later, she got teary eyed and agreed to Harry surprise. Once he reached his dorm he fell fully clothed into bed and had been sleeping deeply until this person decided to wake him. 

"Harry come on. It's dinnertime and Hermione's going nuts cause you only had a small breakfast. And, well I don't know if you want to know or not, but Fred and George got a hold of a Wizard Wireless and, well all day the only it's been talking about is your dad." Ron said, shaking Harry's shoulder. At the mention of his dad, Harry rolled on to his back and looked at the burly redheaded figure that was standing over him.

"And?" Harry said, voice thick with sleep.

"And what?" Ron said, reaching over to the bedside table, grabbing Harry's glasses and handing them to Harry who put them on.

"What are they saying about him?" Harry asked sitting up, all drossiness fading away.

"Well," Ron said, glancing at the door and then sitting down on Harry's bed. "They're saying that the Ministry hasn't given any answer, but that's almost an answer in itself. The Wireless is also saying that someone saw two people leave the place where they were keeping him and go up to the Minister's floor. And that they've been there ever since." Ron said. "So it's sounds like its going good right?" He asked. Harry opened his mouth to say that he had no clue what that sounded like when the door of their dorm opened and Hermione's head came in. Upon seeing that Harry was awake she came fully into the room and started speaking at once.

"Oh good, you're awake. The whole school's saying that Dumbledore is at the Ministry, and well, they might be right because he's not at dinner and even people that got to dinner early didn't see him." She said, walking over to Ron's bed and sitting down on it, facing Ron and Harry.

"He probably is there. I mean, what if they didn't believe my dad, you know. What if they didn't believe that he was really him?" Harry said. "Who better to disprove Fudge then Dumbledore?" Said Ron, looking between Hermione and Harry, the latter staring out of the window where the almost completely set sun could be seen.

"What is everyone saying about this?" Harry asked, turning and facing his friend.

"Well, it, er, it varies." Hermione said softly.

"Varies?" Harry asked, even though he had a pretty good idea of what she meant.

"Yeah," Said Ron. "The Gryffindor's are worried about you and keep asking if you're alright, the Hufflepuff's and Ravenclaw's don't really know what to think, and well the Slytherin's are the Slytherin's." Ron explained, his fingers each earning a name as he listed the houses and their feelings. Harry nodded.

"Merlin, what are they gonna be like when the Minister finally says, 'its really him.'" Harry wondered out loud.

* * *

It took many hours, lots of veritaserum, and many people who were close to James Potter (expect for Remus Lupin because Fudge didn't want a Werewolf in his office) to come to the Minister's office and question the "poser" before Fudge called for the Death Certificate of James Harry Potter the Third to be sent to his office. Even though there was no way for someone to come back from the dead, misunderstandings in the Middle Ages called for there to be a procedure to be follow if someone was declared dead, and ended up not being dead after all. 

It was in the Middle Age's where many witch and wizard hangings took place and if some wizards chose, they could fake their death. But the problem was, some faked their death too well and they were believed to be dead by the Wizarding World. Weeks, and some times years, after a person was declared dead, they would show up and had to be declared alive. Which wasn't that big of a procedure. All that had to be done, was for the Minister to call for the Death Certificate in front of witnessnes that agree the dead person was alive, and have the person who the Certificate was for write _Etiam Spiritus _with a blood quill on the certificate. Then, the person was officially alive. So while they were waiting for Fudge's secretary to come back from the Magical Law Enforcement floor with the Death Certificate, James was allowed to just stop and think about everything that had happened.

"Hey Paige," James said finally, having being unable to squish one question that had been in his mind ever since they started calling people to question him.

"Hm," Paige said in answer, she was rubbing her temples with her eyes close.

"Where's Sirius?" James asked. This got Paige's eyes open. But her attention wasn't the only one's that his question got. At his words, Fudge looked up from his desk and stared at him then said in a stranded sort of voice,

"Mr. Potter, rest assured that he was apprehended and was punished, but, it pains me to say that three years ago, Mr. Black broke out of Azkaban." James stared, and his heart felt like it stopped.

"Azkaban? What the fuck was he doing in Azkaban?" James yelled standing from his seat so fast that it almost knocked over. Fudge started at him in confusion.

"He sold your family to, You-Know-Who. And then, after doing so he killed Peter Pettigrew and 12 muggles." Fudge said.

"Wh-, what? No he didn't!" James yelled, but stopped when a hand was placed on his shoulder.

"James, perhaps it will be best for you to get away from the Ministry for awhile and then sort out any problems you may find." Dumbledore said calmly.

"You let them send Sirius to Azkaban? How could you do that?" James yelled.

"James," Dumbledore said, much more firmly this time, "If you wish to sort all this out now, it will be that much longer Harry will have to take the word of the student body of Hogwarts that he is no longer an orphan." He held James eye contact as he spoke and James could swear that he heard Dumbledore in his mind saying that Sirius was okay, that everything was okay and it would all be explained at Hogwarts. It was for that reason, and that reason alone, that James let it drop.

And, yet again, while he felt angry, hurt, and sadness about what they were saying about Sirius, James could help feel like this was old news. It was like he had heard it already, just like when he had heard about Harry being alive. The opening of the door broke through his thoughts, but maybe it wasn't so much the door opening so much as all the noise that entered the room as soon as the door opened. Because when Fudge's secretary had opened the door, they all got a glimpse of the lobby, which was packed with people.

"I got it Minister." She said, slightly out of breath as she made her way to Fudge's desk holding a long, thin black quill that had a very sharp point, and a piece of parchment that had black ink that glittered from the flickering of the torches that lit the office (the sun had gone down some time before and as soon as the office had started to get dark, the torches lit, all by themselves).

"Right." Fudge said, standing from his seat and walking around his desk so he was on the same side as James. He seemed to want this all over and done with. "Mr. Potter, come and stand next to me." He added commandingly. James stood from his seat and walked closer to Fudge. Handing the quill and the parchment to Fudge, the secretary stole a quick glance at James and, when he saw her looking, looked away quickly and hurried to stand by the door, waiting to take the parchment back to Magical Law Enforcement.

* * *

"Are you sure you want to listen to this Harry? And here?" Hermione asked in an undertone as she glanced around the packed common room. It seemed that all of Gryffindor Tower was in the common room, and all gathered around a single Wizard Wireless, with Fred, George, Ron, Hermione, and of course, Harry sitting the closest. 

"Yeah Harry, if you want, we can take it up to your dorm and George and me will keep everyone out." Fred said, also in an undertone. Everyone was very surprised when Harry had descended the steppes from the boys' dorms and asked if there was any room for him to listen. Of course there was a scramble to make room for him and Ron and Hermione. Upon seeing the looks he was getting as he made his way over to his seat, he just said that he wanted to hear it for himself and he felt bad for making Ron run up and down the stairs every time something happened.

"No, I'm good here. This way, tomorrow, no matter what happens, everyone here will know how I took the news and there should be less rumors going around." Harry said in answer to Hermione and Fred, not taking his eyes away from the Wizard Wireless.

"_And, yes, yes that's Fudge's secretary that ran out of the office five minutes ago and is now returning. With, oy! Mate! Shift a side there! She's holding a piece of parchment and a, well I'll be! That looks like a Blood Quill! Oh this is really exciting, this really gives us some answers. For those of you who do not know, to declare a dead person alive, the Minister of Magic must have the Death Certificate called to his office and the person who the certificate is made for must write on it, with the Blood Quill, oh, bloody hell what was it…Oh yes, the person must write "Still Breathing" on there Death Certificate, in Latin of course." _Said that man that had been speaking from the Wizard Wireless all night.

* * *

"Here, take the quill and write _Etiam Spiritus._" Fudge said, handing the blood quill over to James who took it and served it before bring it down to the paper. Hand hovering over the paper, James looked over the piece of paper that said whether he was alive or dead. It had a lot of information on it, his parents' date and place of birth along with his date and place of birth. But whatever else was on it he didn't get a chance to see because Fudge barked at him to get on with it. So, gripping the quill, James brought it down and watched as the words he wrote were cut magically into the back of his hand. Once he had finished the last "S" James promptly dropped the quill and said, 

"When can I see Harry?"

* * *

"_The secretary is leaving the room, with the blood quill and parchment in hand! And, yes! It looks like it's been written on!"_

"_Miss! Miss! Is it really him!"_

"_Is that James Potter in there with the Minister!"_

"_Aw, come on Lady tell us something! The Wizards and Witches of the Wizarding World want to know!"_

The whole of Gryffindor Tower were holding there breath as they listened to the reports of what was happening at the Ministry, and what all the other reporters, along with there's was saying.

All signs were pointing to yes. It seemed to all of Gryffindor Tower that Harry's dad really was back and that the Ministry was really saying it, but they would wait up all night until the reporter said they came out of that office.

* * *

"I see no harm in letting James come back to Hogwarts with me, Cornelius." Dumbledore said. 

"Now see here Dumbledore. You can't go filling his head with all that nonsense that you're going around saying." Fudge said taking a step closer to James as though James was someone he could boss around.

"I, or anyone else can saying many things to him Cornelius, but it is James' choice alone who he chooses to believe." Dumbledore said calmly as James shot a look of disgust at Fudge and took a step away from him.

"This is all well and good, but right now the only thing that I care about is my son." James said, speaking rather loudly.

"And what I care about, as I am sure the Ministry cares about as well, is how you survived, James. Cornelius, I offer my services to you to assist in discovering what happened to James that night long ago. If he were to stay at Hogwarts, it would be all the easier to find the answers to this question if he could be at hand to be questioned." Dumbledore said, with a small bow of his head. "The Wizarding World would undoubtedly want answers." He added as though an after thought.

"Very well." Fudge said tightly, as though it was the last thing he wanted to say. "There is room at Hogwarts for him, which is more then I can say for the Ministry. But I will be asking Dolores for reports, to make sure he isn't disrupting classes." Said Fudge as though this would teach Dumbledore a lesson. Again, Dumbledore nodded his head.

* * *

"_The door is opening and, yes that is Auror Summers coming out now."_

"_Is it really him Summers?"_

"_Paige! Is it him?"_

"_What'd they say in there?"_

"_And, Merlin! That's him! That's him! That's James Potter!" _

The reporter that was speaking for the Wizard Wireless could hardly be heard from all the noise that had broken out, both in the common room and in the Minister's lobby where the reporter was, along with every reporter in the Wizarding World.All the yells, questions, and statements from the other reporters could be heard clearly.

"Harry," someone said from behind Harry whose eyes were wide and glued onto the little radio-like thing that was sitting on the floor in front of him. Turning to see who called his name, Harry saw almost all of Gryffindor Tower watching him. Some were smiling, clearly happy for the outcome of Harry having a parent alive, some whispering to eachother while staring at Harry, and some others also clearly had no clue how to act.

"Congratulations Harry," said a voice from some where from his right. Now turning that way to see who had spoken, Harry was greeted with the sight of Fred and George Weasley's with huge identical grins on their faces. Harry forced out a small smile. Sure, he had known that the man at the Ministry really was his dad, and sure, he had thought the shock was gone but it seemed as though it wasn't. He really hadn't thought everything would have happened so quickly. Sirius said that it was going to take much longer then it did. The congratulations from the Weasley twins seemed to set the mood, everyone in Gryffindor tower started saying congratulations to him and things of that sort. They almost covered the mayhem coming from the Wizard Wireless.

Almost.

* * *

When Paige and James stepped out of Fudge's office after it was deiced that James would go back to Hogwarts, there were met with the press. The press from all around the world it seemed. And they all wanted one thing, to question the hell out of James. 

"James!"

"Mr. Potter over here for a picture!"

"What was it like being dead Mr. Potter?"

"What are your plans now?"

"Mr. Potter, tell everyone how it feels to be coming out of a fourteen year coma?

"Mr. Potter, tell us what your first thoughts were upon waking up inside a tomb!"

"Mr. Potter, tell us what it feels like to know that your son has face, or is claiming to have faced, You-Know-Who more times as you have?"

"No, how does it feel for your son to _say_ that he's face You-Know-Who as _many_ times as you?"

"Nah, the kids only faced him twice. Once as a baby once when he was eleven. Mr. Potter tell us,"

"No! They say the boy fought the Heir of Slytherin, and that's Who-Know-Who!"

"LOOK OVER HERE FOR A PICTURE MR. POTTER!"

* * *

Harry visible paled as he listened to the things the reporters were telling his dad. Things that he was suppose to tell his dad. Things he should have told his dad. The congratulations went on around him, only those sitting close to him, and even more so those knew the whole story saw Harry's reaction.

* * *

James swayed on the spot. What the hell were they all talking about? Harry had, Harry had what? He's faced Voldemort more…He'd seen… he'd fought…James breathing started to become ragged as the reporters' questions went on. 

"Tell us how it felt to wake up in your tomb!"

"Where are you going to go now?"

"How do you feel about your best friend being murdered by your other best friend?"

"Get him out of here Paige." Dumbledore said frimly, coming from behind and handing Paige a book. James couldn't think any more, his feelings were all over the place and he didn't know where to start to work them out. He didn't even register Paige taking hold of his hand and placing it on a solid object. Nor did he really register that he suddenly found himself in Dumbledore's office, and was sinking into one of the chairs in front of Dumbledore's desk.

* * *

_And James Potter and Paige Summers have just used a Portkey to get away from the Ministry, leaving before answering any questions. But, the Minster and Headmaster of Hogwarts Dumbledore are remaining to answer a few questions. _

Harry stopped listening. Getting up suddenly, he left the common room and headed up to his dorm, still getting pats on the back from his fellow Gryffindors. Once he was in his dorm he closed the door and hurried over to his trunk. Opening it, he started hurriedly rummaging through his belongings until he found what he was looking for. Moving on to his bed, Harry closed the bed hangs and pulled his wand from his back pocket. Tapping the Marauders Map with his wand Harry said,

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," in a slightly tight voice. The ink at once started to spread across the aged parchment. Harry's eyes flew to the area where Dumbledore's office was and felt like his heart has being squeezed when he saw one of the names that was in Dumbledore's office. James Potter. Harry guessed that the talk he had in sort for his father just got a whole lot longer.

* * *

"James," Paige said cautiously. As soon as they had gotten into the office James had sank into one of the chairs in front of Dumbledore's desk and still hadn't said a word. Paige was kicking herself along with everyone else in that room for not thinking that the press would yell and ask the things they had. When James didn't give any sign that he had heard her, Paige let out a sigh and looked around the office, trying to think of something to snap James out of it. Then, the sight of a pensive and a piece of parchment on Dumbledore's desk got her attention. Walking over to it and picking it up, Paige read it and then said, 

"James, come on, we gotta get your memories back into you. It might clear some things up." This got James attention. Or, maybe it was that Paige forcible turned his head so that he was looking at the pensive. "Come on." She said, getting his wand into his hand and guiding it over to the pensive. Looking at the parchment from Dumbledore that was still in her hand once more, Paige gently helped James place the tip of his wand into the pensive and watched as James' eyes seemed to roll almost to the back of his head. After a few moments, he seemed to come back to himself, and seemed to be very angry.

"I need to talk to Sirius." James said, voice showing that there was no room for argument.

* * *

A.N- Wow, well lets see. You know how I said I was sort of happy with the last chapter, yeah, not so much with this one.Which is why I'm begging you guys to give me some feed back! I really need it on this one! Um, lets see what else was there… Sorry if it's a bit confusing with the jumping around, it just felt right to write it that way.

And in case you did catch it, _Etiam Spiritus, _means Still Breathing in Latin. And, as soon as I post this I'll think of more things I wanted to say. But, send me lots of reviews, cause I love them so much! Augh, in a rush, gotta go study math now so I don't fail!

Till next time!


	21. I should have told you

_"Merlin Prongs, quite the stalker aren't we?"_

_"Shut up Padfoot, I'm not stalking him. And lower your voice, you'll wake him." James said with his back to his best friend as he stood at the doorway of his son's nursery watching said son sleep through the small crack in the door._

_"What are you doing up here anyways? Gotta say my wonderful godson is much more fun when he's awake." Sirius said quietly as he moved closer to James, looking over James' shoulder into the room where a white crib could be seen. And through the rails of the crib what looked like a black shaggy haired stuffed animal could be seen, butthe fact was, thatit wasn't a stuffed animal, it was a sleeping baby._

_"I'm…Just watching him." James said to Sirius, still not taking his eyes off his son's head. Like almost all fathers, James loved his child above his own life, and could spent hours just watching his baby boy sleep. But for some reason, Sirius felt there was something different about this time. Sirius felt that there was something different about James._

_"What's going on James?" Sirius asked after a few moments of them both just staring at the sleeping Harry. James didn't answer. "Something's up. I can tell, there's no point trying to keep it from me." Again James didn't answer, he just propped one arm up with the other and covered his mouth with a fist. _

_"Harry fell off the couch the other day." James finally said, moving his fist away from his mouth so his words would come out as more then just a mumble. Had it not been for the fact that Sirius had seen Harry yesterday and he was fine thenand that James wasn't in the room watching Harry even more intently then he was now, Sirius would have been seriously concerned that his godson was still hurt. _

"_I was playing with him. We were sitting on the couch and I was bouncing him on my knee, and work flooed in to ask me something. So I left Harry sitting on the couch while I just walked over to the fire. I turned my back on him for not even five minutes and he fell. He's fine, got a little burse but it was nothing, I fixed it in a heartbeat. But he just kept crying, and crying. Even after the burse was gone. He stopped after a while but…" James finally said before he trailed off. Sirius nodded slightly, with eyes still on Harry._

_"James, you made a mistake. Not even a mistake, it was just an accident," Sirius started to say but stopped when James started to shake his head. _

_"If I had brought him with me when I went over to the fire place, he never would have cried like that. If I hadn't have left him alone like I did…"James said trailing off, covering his mouth with his fist again._

_"James you're gonna have to leave him alone at some point. I mean, think of how much the damn Slytherins' will laugh at him if his dad's flying on the pitch with him during a quidditch match." Sirius said, trying to use a joke to make James understand that all parents have to leave their kids alone at some point. _

_"You don't get it Sirius, I can't ever leave him again, he needs to be protected… I need to protect him… You just don't understand." James said closing his eyes as he spoke, and in doing so taking his eyes off Harry for the first time since Sirius had arrived._

_"Well make me understand." Sirius said softly and firmly at the same time. Opening his eyes, James looked at Sirius very intently. "How am I going to help you protect Harry if I don't know what I'm protecting him from?" Sirius asked, returning his own gaze to Harry's sleeping head, which, as Sirius watched, rolled over._

_"After you left yesterday, Lily and I went to Hogwarts to speak with Dumbledore. He owled us asking us to come. And," Jamesbroke offand leaned against the doorframe and just once again stared at Harry. Looking so scared and helpless._

_"What did he say?" Sirius asked, started to feel fear of his own start to form._

_"He said that this nutter made a prophecy about the person that has the power to stop Voldemort." _

_"What?" Sirius asked. He couldn't believe it someone could really stop him! If it weren't for the fact that James was clearly unhappy about this news, Sirius would have jumped in the air for joy._

_"Yeah. But, problem is, the way the prophecy is worded, it points to two people. No not even people, kids, babies." James said with a snort of mirthless laughter. " One of them, is Alice and Franks boy," James said, trailing of. Sirius gapped at him. Alice and Franks only had a son that was Harry's age. Then, realization slow started to take over Sirius as he watched James stare at Harry._

_"And the other one's Harry," Sirius said in a whisper, hoping and praying to every god that had ever been prayed to before that James would say no._

_"And the other one's Harry." James confirmed letting his head hit the doorframe he was still leaning on as he spoke. There was silence as Sirius took in the words and there full meaning. His heart rate had speed up to a rate that had to be hazardous to his health. Quickly, he tried to think of something to make this better, something, anything…_

_"We'll train him. He'll still a childhood, and a great one, but we'll train him how to fight. Voldemort will never know what Harry will be able to do and," Sirius started saying, speaking very fast. But James shook his head sadly._

_"That's what I said. But there's more." James stopped and gulped painfully. "It seems that a death eater heard this prophecy, so, Voldemort knows. And cause it paints a very clear picture of who it's talking about, he'll know that it points to Alice and Franks kid and Harry." James said each word sounding like it was costing him every once of strength he had not to break down and cry, or start hexing things and cursing the world for choosing his son. Sirius stared at Harry's peacefully sleeping head. This…it just couldn't be happening. Not to Lily and James. Not to Harry._

_"I will not bury my son Sirius." James said, voice full of furious determination that Sirius had never heard in it before. "I wont let him get hurt." James said, voice cracking slightly. "I wont let him get hurt." He said in a whisper that seemed to be more to himself then Sirius. Sirius couldn't take it any more, forcibly he grabbed James shoulders and pulled him into a very tight brotherly hug. James hugged Sirius back tightly. _

"I should have told you." Sirius said, watching himself at age 21 pat James' back as James repeated over and over that he wouldn't let Harry get hurt.

"Yes. You should have." James said evenly not taking his eyes off the younger Sirius comfort him.

"I thought that you should hear it all from Harry." Sirius said as a baby started to cry in the other room and Sirius and James broke their hug so James could go and tend to his son.

"What is it all Sirius?" James asked, turning and facing the thirty four year old that had found him inside Dumbledore's pensive.

After trying to calm James down, Paige left him to go and get Sirius as James requested, or demanded more like. While he waited, James looked at the pensive that he had put all his memories into the other night and had just takenhis memories out of. James placed his wand at his temple,and pulled the memory of when he told Sirius about the prophecy. Which was were Sirius had found him.

"Come on, let's get out of here." Sirius said. James who was still watching himself rock Harry to silence, nodded and felt Sirius place a hand on his shoulder. The scene went black and James found himself back in Dumbledore's office. Turning to face Sirius, James repeated his question.

"What is all Sirius?" Sirius sighed and sat down in one of the chairs in front of Dumbledore's desk and placed his head in his hands.

"I still think that it would be better to hear it from Harry rather then me." Sirius said, sounding very grown up.

"Damn it Sirius!" James yelled. "Is it better for me to hear it from the press? What the hell did they mean when they said my son face Voldemort more times then me? Or wait, what was it? As many times as me, that's what one of them shouted! Damn it Sirius tell me!" James yelled throwing his hands up in the air out of frustration.

He had just seen himself say that he would never let his son get hurt, and people were saying that Harry had faced, and _fought_ Voldemort already. It was not possible for him to walk away unhurt from that. He was only fifteen.

"Not counting the night that he attacked your house, Harry has only encountered Voldemort twice." Said Sirius.

"Only! Only twice? Oh well, that's a relief!" James yelled sarcastically. "One of those fucking reporters said that he faced Slytherins' heir and that's Voldemort." James said angrily.

"He fought Tom Riddle, which was who Voldemort was before he became Voldemort." Sirius said, hoping that if he just answered James' questions that it would calm down.

"Where the hell was Dumbledore during all this? Isn't the job of a headmaster to keep the students safe?" James yelled turning his anger toward Dumbledore.

"Harry did all this without him knowing." Sirius said, hoping that it was true, because he would hate for James to kill Dumbledore for knowing and not doing anything. James let out a frustrated cry of anguish and sank into the chair next to Sirius.

"I want to know exactly what happened to my son." James said in a stern whisper after a few moments of silence. "Every mark, every cut that Voldemort left on him I want to know." Sirius looked at James to find hazel eyes staring at him intently.

"You'll have to ask Harry for that information." Sirius told him firmly. "You have to hear this from him. He has to tell you." Sirius went on; slightly impressed by how firmly he was saying it when he wasn't that sure if it was the right thing. Again, James let out a cry of anguish.

"Why didn't he in the first place?" James asked, only slightly annoyed at his son.

"He said that those kind of things just don't roll off the tongue. But he was going to tell you the next time he saw you." Sirius said.

"Which will be now." James said, standing from his seat and making his way toward the door. Sirius jumped up to stop him but both were stopped by Dumbledore walking through the door.

"Hello James. Going some where?" Dumbledore asked calmly as he looked from Sirius to James.

"I'm going to see my son." Said James in such a tone that it was obvious that he would be seeing Harry and he wanted Dumbledore to try and stop him.

"We can't have you walking the hallways James. Think of how students would react upon seeing you. The students still have ten more minutes until curfew." Said Dumbledore pleasantly. James opened his mouth to say that he didn't give an armadillo's ass about the students seeing him and when their curfew was when Dumbledore started speaking again.

"So I suppose it is a good thing that young Harry got to my office when he did." James gaped at Dumbledore. "I shall get him for you, he's just outside the door. He seemed to want to speak with you very much. One might wonder how he knew you were here." Dumbledore said as he opened the door and waved to someone outside that James couldn't see from where he stood. Then, he saw Harry walk into his sight. He looked very pale and nervous. As he walked into the office, his eyes darted from James, to Sirius, then back to James.

"I should have told you before. But, I just…" Harry started to say before he trailed off, looking at the floor. With a sigh, he looked back up and met James gaze.

"Tell me now." James said softly, begging his son to open up to him and tell him every time that James had failed to protect him like he had promised. "Please." James added when Harry didn't say anything. Looking back down at the floor Harry nodded.

"I think you would be more comfortable talking in the sitting room then in here." Dumbledore said, gesturing to the back of his office where the door that leads to his sitting room was. With a quick glance at Dumbledore and then James and Sirius, Harry made his way to the sitting room, staring at his shoes as he walked.

"I must be get to Headquarters for the meeting now. Sirius, will you be joining me?" Dumbledore asked walking over to Fawkes and stroking him while gazing at Sirius.

"Um," Sirius said looking at James to know if James wanted him to leave or stay. When James gave a nodded of the head Sirius said, "Sure. If you need to get me… well I'm sure you remember how to use this." Sirius said handing James a very old mirror that they had used to communicate during separate detentions and what not. James tried to smile but couldn't so he just nodded and took the mirror Sirius gave him and pocketed it. Without another word James followed after Harry.

When he entered the sitting room he took in the walls with all the bookshelves, the windows, now dark, and finally the fireplace where a great fire was lit and the furniture surrounding it. And it was in one of the armchairs that he saw Harry. Walking over silently to the couch James watched his son. He was fiddling with his hands, which were in his lap. It was only when James entered his vision did Harry look up. Harry met James gaze andas James slowly lowered himself onto the couch Harry said,

"I should have told you before." James swallowed, trying to keep his anger out of his voice. He wasn't angry with Harry, and he didn't want Harry to think that he was.

"You should have, but I understand why you didn't. But, please, tell me everything now. What the press said is enough to…And Sirius being so set on me hearing it from you really makes me apprehensive." James said, speaking slowly. Harry nodded.

"I don't know where to start." He said finally in a child like voice.

"You faced Voldemort when you were only eleven?" James asked, hoping that Harry would say, nope, wasn't me. But he hoped in vain.

"I did." Harry said with a nodded. "I guess all that started when Hagrid came to get me from the Dursleys'." Harry started to say, but was stop when James interrupted him.

"The Dursleys? You don't mean, Li- your mum's sister and husband do you?" James asked, eyes widening. He had wondered where Harry had grown up since Sirius was in Azkaban and the Ministry would never let a Werewolf care for a child, but James had just assumed that Harry had grown up in an orphanage.

"Yeah. I've lived with them all my life. Or well, almost all my life." Harry said, correcting himself when he made the mistake of saying that he never lived with his parents.

"Why the hell did you go there?" James asked confused.

He didn't really know that much about the Dursleys, all he knew was they hated Lily, Harry, and him because they were wizards, that Petunia blamed Lily for their parents death, and that they hadn't spoken since the funeral. Lily never really talked about her sister but what she did say gave James enough to greatly dislike her and her husband. Knowing a little of how she use to treat Lily, James had a nasty feeling of how they treated Harry.

"There were my only living relatives." Harry said with a shrug. James desperately wanted to know how they treated his son but there were other things that, at the moment, he was more concerned about.

"We'll go back to that topic alright? Go on with what you were saying about Hagrid." James said, subconsciously sitting on the edge of the couch, leaning close to Harry. Harry nodded, took a deep breath and began speaking again.

* * *

Once James had walked away from him, Sirius turned to Dumbledore who smiled softly. 

"Just place a hand on Fawkes Sirius." He said calmly. Wordlessly Sirius made his way over to Dumbledore and placed a hand on one of Fawkey's wings. Fawkeys let out one beautiful note and then Dumbledore and Sirius were engulfed in golden flames which felt a lot like the flames when you traveled by Floo. When the flames died down, Sirius found himself in the very crowed kitchen of number 12 Grimmauld Place. Upon seeing Dumbledore, instead of the talking dieing down like it usually did when an Order meeting was about to start, everyone started asking questions.

"Where is he?"

"Why didn't you bring him here?"

"Does Harry know?"

"How the hell is he alive?"

And thing of that nature were yelled out. While everyone was asking Dumbledore questions regarding James, surprisingly, Sirius was able to slip to the side and take a seat next to Paige, who had Remus sitting on her other side.

"Your alive." Paige said, watching Sirius with surprise.

"And back really soon to have filled James in on everything. What did you do? Stun him to deal with later?" Remus asked, leaning over Paige slightly to talk to Sirius.

"No I didn't stun him or tell him anything. Harry took that job." Sirius said, rubbing his face with a hand.

"How did Harry know?" Remus asked, shocked.

"No idea. But he seemed to know that James had heard something , cause he said that he should have told James." Sirius said. Then he moved his gaze to Paige. "Again, did you guys really have to take him out in front of the press?" Sirius askedrepeating the question that he asked a hundred times when Paige had first showed up at Grimmauld Place explaining what had happened and how James wanted to see Sirius.

"Again, we couldn't make a Portkey in front of Fudge." Paige said sounding annoyed.

"Why didn't you Floo?" Sirius asked, again another thing that he had asked repeatedly.

"Merlin it is so good to see you again Sirius, I haven't gotten this want to rip out my hair since," Paige started saying, pulling at her hair but was, luckily in Remus opinion, cut of by Dumbledore raising his hands for silence at the head of the table.

Leaning back in his chair, Remus looked behind Paige's back to see Sirius who was gaping at Paige opened mouthed. Just as he was about to do something to get Sirius to close his mouth Paige spoke, not even looking at Sirius,

"Oh for Merlin's sake, close your damn mouth Sirius."

* * *

James and Harry sat in silence for a few minutes as James took in everything that Harry had told him. Sitting with his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands, James was taking deep breaths and trying to keep a level head about the situation. When he felt he was composed enough to speak, he lift his head and turned to look at Harry. Words failed him though as he looked at his son. 

Harry was just sitting there waiting for James to collect himself and make the next move. And as he sat there, James took noticeof the strange mix that Harry seemed to be. His son had the odd mix of seeming like an adult and kid.

The things that he had seen and done all by the time he was eleven made him in most cases more aware then some adults of the horrors this world can hold which made him seem like an adult, and yet, even if it's buried very deep James could see that he was still just a teenager. When realization kicked in that he had been staring at Harry for a few minutes straight not saying anything, James quickly thought of something to say, anything to say to break the tension.

"Snape takes his hatred for me out on you?" Was the question that James finally blurted out. Harry stared for a minute then chuckled a little.

"Yeah, ever since he first looked at me he has saved this look of loathing just for me. And, Professor Lupin I guess. He looks at Sirius like that too come to think of it…" Harry said, rambling slightly. Both what his son said and how he was saying it made James laugh.

"Yeah he would look at them the same way I'm sure." James said. They both laughed a little before James became serious. "I'm going to have to talk to him about that though. That's really low, taking out feelings of hatred for me on you." He said, looking at Harry with sympathy in his eyes. It wasn't fair that his son had to suffer and be miserable because his father and friends were assholes when they were in school. As silence started to over take them again, James spoke up again, still on serious matters.

"So, all that was just in your first year?" He asked, and then sighed before he went on. "Well, lets here second year now."

"Isn't it getting kind of late? I mean, I have classes and stuff tomorrow." Harry said. He _did_ want to get all of his past out of the way with his dad but he alsodid have classes tomorrow and he had already missed a few today.

"I'm sure your teachers will understand." James said sternly, as though he would make them understand if they didn't. "Beside, I heard a lot. So I want to hear it all from you."

"Okay. Well in my second year, me and Ron found the Chamber of Secrets." Harry started.

"The Chamber of Secrets? I thought that was just a myth?" James asked perplexed, breaking the rule he had made with himself of not interrupting Harry while he was telling his story.

"It's real. Before I came back to Hogwarts, this house-elf showed up in my bedroom at the Dursleys and told me that I couldn't go back to Hogwarts. Well, I told him that I would. So to stop me, first he tired to get me into so much trouble with the Dursleys so they wouldn't take me to Kings Cross. But Ron and his brothers came and rescued me in their dad's flying car."

"Flying car?" James asked, again cursing himself inside for interrupting Harry.

"Yeah, their dad's nuts about everything to do with muggles. But, um, oh yeah. So I went to his house and then the house-elf tried to stop me from getting Hogwarts by closing the barrier to platform 9 and ¾ so Ron and me couldn't get through to the train. So, we flew the car to school."

"My son flew a flying car to Hogwarts?" James asked, beaming at Harry with pride. But thenhe changed and he was staring at Harry as though he were crazy. "Do you know what trouble you could have gotten into? How hurt you could have been?"

"Yeah I do know. We were seen by some muggles, and when we got to Hogwarts the engine died and we hit the Whomping Willow." Harry said, looking down at the floor. James eyes widened and he was tempted to grab Harry and look him over for injuries for something that happened three years ago.

"So after we almost got expelled, I started hearing…" Harry started to say but stopped as the thought of what he was hearing and why he was hearing it came to him. What would James think of him being a Parseltongue? Surely he wouldn't think he was evil or anything, right?

"Harry," James said seeing Harry hesitate in his story.

"I started hearing voices in the walls." Harry said bravely, thinking that if James did have a problem with it, then he should find out as soon as he could so that he wouldn't have to lose too much when James pulled away.

"You started hearing voices?" James prompted gently when Harry, again, hesitated.

"Yes. See, well, the night Voldemort gave me my scar, Dumbledore told me that he gave me some of his powers. And one of the things that he gave me was the ability to speak Parseltongue." Harry said, looking at James for a reaction. However James felt about this, Harry wanted to know.

"Voldemort gave you some of his powers?" James asked, sounding slightly lost.

"Yeah, well, Dumbledore said that he put some of himself into me. Or something like that. But I can speak Parseltongue." Harry said, restating that he could speak to serpents in case James missed it.

"Alright I'm gonna need to have a talk with Dumbledore about this. I want to know in full what the hell else happened to you on that night. You can feel when he's around, and he gave you some of his powers…" James said, more to himself then to Harry, but Harry heard anyway. "Alright, go on. So you heard voices in the walls." James, giving Harry back his full attention. Harry gapped at him.

"You, you don't care that I can speak Parseltongue?" Harry asked, shocked and bewildered.

"Why would I? It wasn't something you were born with or wanted to have." James said sounding bewildered like Harry, though for different reasons. Smiling from the thought that James didn't care, Harry went on to explain the rest of the events that had taken place in his second year. After a half an hour, once again, James found himself with his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands.

"My third year now?" Harry asked in a tired voice. Time did seem to be flying as they had been talking. One thing the room did seem to lack was a clock or anything of the sort; which James realized as he sat up at Harry's question and looked around the room searching for one.

"No Sirius and Remus told me about your third year already. It's getting really late. You should get to bed, we can finish talking tomorrow." James said, bring his gaze back to Harry after he had scanned the whole room for a clock.

He really didn't want to send Harry to bed now, there was still one year unaccounted for. But, James didn't think that it could be any worse then Harry's first and second year, and also he had read in a book when Lily was pregnant that as your child got older it was important to have bed times.

"Well, last year, was kind of a big year." Said Harry, thinking of what Sirius would say if Harry left James once again with out telling him one of the big things.

"Yeah I know it was the Tournament but," James started to say when Harry shook his head. It wasn't that James didn't want to know every detail of Harry's years at Hogwarts, it was quite the opposite in fact, but James really didn't want Harry to be falling asleep in classes tomorrow.

"No its, not about the Tournament. Well, it kind of is, but." Harry stopped and sighed then just figured it was easiest to say it if he just said it. "At the end of the Tournament me and the other Hogwarts champion made the win a draw because we had both helped each other and we both got to the cup. So, we…I deiced that we should take the cup at the same time. But the cup was a Portkey. And it took us to this graveyard. Wormtail and Voldemort were there. And, then, then Wormtail killed Cedric. He tied me up to a tombstone and he made this potion. The potion he made gave Voldemort his body back." Said Harry, flashes of that night passing before his eyes.

"You, you saw… You saw Voldemort get his body back?" James asked shocked and horrified. Sirius and Remus had told James what had become of Voldemort after he tried to kill Harry and there lack of being able to describe to James what exactly Voldemort was made him feel sick inside. Andthe fact that Harry had to be the witness to his rebirth, made him feel even worse inside.

"Wormtail did this right in front of you. Did he hurt you? Tell me! Did he hurt you?" James asked suddenly leaning forward and grabbing Harry's shoulders. This action and the pure hatred that filled James eyes scared Harry. Unable to talk, Harry nodded; watching his father fearfully, wondering if he could reach his wand in time if he needed to.

"How? What did he do to you?" James asked, eyes scanning Harry's body. "I swear to god…" James muttered to himself as he continued searching Harry's body for injury.

"He cut my elbow with a dagger and took my blood and put it into the potion. Voldemort said that he needed my blood cause it would make him stronger." Harry said, pulling up his sleeve to show were the cut had been. There was no mark there now; Madam Pomfrey had healed it in a heartbeat. Never the less, James grabbed Harry's elbow and brought it up to his eye for inspection. Satisfied that Harry's cut was all right James lowered it and finally took in Harry's scared expression. His own expression changed very fast, going from pissed as hell to very worried and upset.

"Oh Merlin Harry I'm so sorry. It's just that," He stopped swallowed and shook his head before going on. "He's hurt my family so much already." He ended finally, looking at Harry with such sorrow in his eyes and Harry nearly instantly relaxed.

"It's alright." Harry said softly, looking at the floor. James took a second to compose himself then said,

"Alright, go on. Tell me everything that happened that night."

* * *

A.N- I'm feeling blah about this one. Like pretty much all the chapters I write. Um lets see… I hope that the pensive part wasn't confusing for you guys and… I'm sorry that its kind of short and I hope the you guys feel the emotion in the penisve part becasue that whole thing up about until the Order meeting was written while I was listening to the Goo Goo Dolls Iris over and over again, so I was very emotional while writing it. 

Well, guess that's about it…Please, please, please tell me how you feel/ think about this chapter. I love to hear from you! Fill my mailbox!

Till next time!


	22. The first fatherson moment

Was it wrong to wish death on your worst enemy? What if you were given permission, no an order, to do it, what about then? And you were told to do it slowly, just as you had imagined doing every time your enemy made your life hell. For most cold-hearted killers, this would be a dream come true. To be ordered to carry out an act you so desperately wanted to do and you would be doing it in the name of your Lord. Unluckily for Snape, he had yet to be asked by Lord Voldemort to carry out this task, but it was only a matter of time. It was only a matter of time before the Dark Lord grew bored of hearing that no one knew where _he_ was or that no one had much information on _him_ and he would turn his cold, red eyes to Snape and asks him what he knows. Then, after Snape finished telling the Dark Lord that James Potter was to be residing in the walls of Hogwarts, Snape would undoubtedly be told to kill him.

"Enough." Hissed Lord Voldemort to the death eater that was kneeling in front of him with his head down giving a report of what he found out at the Ministry, or lack of. At Voldemort's order the death eater started rambling apologies and kissing the Dark Lord's robes until Voldemort held up a hand to stop him. Standing with his head still bowed out of respect the death eater moved back to his place in the circle. There was silence as Voldemort looked around at the death eaters he had gathered together tonight in this field in the middle of nowhere.

And it really was in the middle of nowhere. The only thing that could be seen for miles on all sides was men in black cloaks and the black marble throne that was in the center of the circle the death eaters had formed. Voldemort liked to have meetings in places like this, in the middle of nowhere. One of his reasons for picking places like this Voldemort had said at Snape's very first death eater meeting. In a half joking (or as jokingly Voldemort could be), half serious tone, Voldemort had said he liked having meeting out in the open because when he returned to his "home" he liked to be pleasantly overwhelmed by the smell of the pain, fear, and blood of his enemy. He said that nothing made him more inspired.

His other reason came later, further into the war, when he first started believing he had a spy in his ranks. A team of Dumbledore's people had once ambushed a meeting that was being held at an old muggle farm after killing those who owned it.

It seemed that Voldemort liked seeing the blood of Dumbledore's followers on the grass in the moonlight. So to tempt Dumbledore, and make sure that if Dumbledore took the bait that he would be entertained, Voldemort held routine meetings out in the open. Important meetings were a different story.

"Severus," Voldemort hissed, letting his eyes fall on Snape. At once Snape moved into the center of the circle and knelt before Lord Voldemort. "Tell me Severus, what has the old fool been saying and planning regarding this situation."

"My Lord," Snape said, clearing his mind of all thoughts to block out any attempt of mind reading Voldemort might try. Not that what he was about to say was a lie. "Dumbledore has yet to speak with me since…_his_ return. But I have heard that _he_ will be staying within the walls of Hogwarts." Snape said, spitting out any word that was in association with James Potter.

"Of course he will be," Voldemort said in a whisper that non-the less was heard by all gathered. "Tell me Severus," Voldemort said, staring at Snape's bowed, hooded head. "How is young Mr. Potter handling this all?" To some, it might sound that Voldemort cared in a sick sort of way. But everyone present knew better; a sick sort of caring would be better for Harry Potter then what Voldemort really meant behind his question.

"He missed classes yesterday. His little friends said that he was feeling, overwhelmed by the events." Snape said, remembering how Miss Granger had come up to him before class had began and had given Potter's sob story.

"Overwhelmed indeed." Voldemort said with an evil smirk come over his face. "When you return to Hogwarts, you will find out exactly how the two Potters are getting along and just how young Harry feels about his, daddy, being back."

"Yes My Lord," Snape said with an incline of his head. Head still bow, Snape leaned forward and kissed the hem of Voldemort's robes then stood, fight the urge to spit in disgust on the ground. That was one of the first things that had started turning Snape against Voldemort, having to kiss the hem of his robes…James Potter had made him to the same thing.

* * *

"_James, stop doing that to your hair. You'll make it even messier then it already is for the picture." Lily Potter said as she watched her husband run a hand through his hair as she tied the shoelaces of their five-month-old baby's shoes. _

"_Sorry honey," James said walking over to Lily and place a kiss on her cheek. _

James turned his face away from the darkened window to block out thoughts of Lily. He couldn't lose it right now. There would be more time to grieve later; right now he had to be strong. Turning fully around he took in the sight of his son asleep in the armchair. He looked so peaceful when he slept, just like he did all those years ago. Even if it seemed like weeks ago to James.

Walking quietly over to Harry, James retook his seat and sat watching Harry's deep breaths. He had failed in so many ways when it came to Harry. And, yet, he felt such pride, which in turn made him feel slightly guilty. He watched as Harry reached up to his face in his sleep and scratched his nose, James was half way through his thought of how Lily use to do the same thing when something on Harry's hand caught his attention. It, it looked like scars. Just as Harry was bring his hand away from his nose, James reached out and gently let it fall into his hand. After waiting a few seconds to make sure that Harry hadn't woke up from it, James shifted so he was even closer to Harry's hand and looked at it.

He was right. It was scars. They looked nearly healed but, never the less, the sight of them worried and angered James. Staring at the words on his son's hand, James tired to think why Harry would have, 'I must not tell lies,' marked on him. Then, a thought came to him. _"…and then there's Umbridge and she'll have noticed that I haven't been 'spreading lies' all day and go looking for me," Harry rambled on, unconsciously rubbing the back of his right hand. _

"_Why would she think that you would be spreading lies?"_

"_Well,_ _what I have to say, the Ministry doesn't agree with, so she has dubbed it a lie"_

That's what Harry had said that night when he came to Grimmauld Place. Lightly rubbing Harry hand, James hoped that for Umbridge's sake that she was not responsible for this. A light knock on the door caused James to take his eyes off Harry and look toward the door. When another knock came, James returned his gaze to Harry and gently place his son's hand on his stomach and got up to answer the door. It turned out to be Sirius and Remus. At the sight of them James cast one last glance at Harry then stepped out of the room and quietly closed the door behind him.

"Hey," Sirius said once the door was closed, closely followed by Remus saying the same thing.

"Hey." James said back, running a hand through his hair staring from one face to the other.

"So, you and Harry talk?" Remus asked cautiously.

"Yeah, he told me everything." James said, walking around Sirius and Remus and taking a seat in one of the chairs in Dumbledore's office.

"James," Sirius started to say but James just held up a hand to stop him.

"Why does he have the words ' I must not tell lies' as scars on the back of his hand?" James asked, looking up at them. He was met with two confused faces.

"What? He has what on the back of his hand?" Sirius asked.

" 'I must not tell lies'," James repeated. Sirius and Remus shared a look of utter confusion.

"We have no idea James." Remus said.

"And what is it that Harry says that Umbridge thinks is lies?" James asked remembering again what Harry had said about Umbridge. Again Remus and Sirius shared a look, though this one was not out of confusion.

"Harry has, er, spoken out in her class about Voldemort returning to power. We told you before, the Ministry doesn't believe he's back, and so that's what Umbridge believes." Said Sirius.

"I'll have to have a little, chat, with her soon then." James said in a would be causal voice that was a clear indictor to Remus and Sirius that chat would be one of the last words used to descried the meeting that would be held between Umbridge and James. There was silence between the three friends for a short time before James asked another question, which he was almost sure of the answer.

"Does he know about the Prophecy?" He asked in a quite voice.

"No, he doesn't." Sirius answered. "Dumbledore could have told him a few times, but he grew a liking to your son and felt that he was too young. And he came close to telling him at the end of last year, but thought that Harry had enough to deal with at that point in time." James nodded. When Harry was giving him his accounts of everything that had happened to him, James kept waiting for his next words to be 'and then I found out about the Prophecy'. But they never came.

"We're, that's to say me, Sirius, and now you, are the only members of the Order who know that Dumbledore's had the chance to tell Harry, but didn't because he let his feelings get override him." Remus said heavily as he moved into a seat next to James.

"And we only know because we asked when he was planning on telling Harry." Sirius said, while grabbing the remaining chair and moving it in front of James and Remus so he could face them.

"You think he should know then?" James asked looking from one friend to the other. He and Lily had discussed this topic more then once, yet they had a very hard time because they didn't want to spring it on him on his sixteenth birthday or anything of the sort, but they also felt that he wouldn't have a childhood if he grew up knowing that one day he would kill or be killed.

"He has to be told at some point James." Remus said, taking the easy answer Sirius felt. Sirius however gave his true feelings toward the matter.

"Yes, I think he should know as soon as possible. Well, maybe not tomorrow but, soon." Said Sirius. James sighed and dropped his head.

"But, you guys are telling me that he's happy. I don't want-" James began, but Sirius taking the role of the Devil's Advocate, interrupted him.

"He _is_ happy. But, James if we don't tell him now…How will he react when he does find out? I hate this just as much as you do, but we have to face it. Harry is important in this war. The sooner he finds out, the sooner he comes to terms with it and will be able to do something." Said Sirius gravely; sounding so grown up that it shocked James slightly.

"When should, how, should we tell him though? I mean, me and Lily never worked out how we wanted him to find out and…God I wish she was here, she would know exactly what the hell to tell him." James said sounding helpless.

With his eyes downcast, James missed the look that Sirius and Remus gave each other. That was the first time James had mentioned Lily in front of them. Just as Remus was about to say something, about Lily or something else Sirius didn't know, James brought his head back up and asked,

" And he went to live with the Dursleys'?" Hoping that Remus and Sirius would explain more fully Dumbledore's choice of house for his only son.

"Yeah, no one really thought they would treat him the way the did. Dumbledore had Arabella move into the neighborhood to keep an eye on him but even then we didn't know everything until he got to Hogwarts." Remus said running a hand through his graying hair.

"Yeah, I knew from Lily that her sister wasn't very fond of her but didn't think they would treat Harry like that." Sirius added with a shake of his head. James looked between them. What did they mean the Dursleys' treated Harry badly? Did they…Oh Merlin did they beat him?

"What did they do to him?" James asked them, anger boiling up inside of him. Sirius groaned and let his head fall back in exasperation.

"Why can't that boy tell a full story?" Sirius asked the ceiling.

"He was going to tell me but I told him to save that one for later cause I thought Voldemort was a more pressing matter. But now I get the feeling I was wrong. What did they do to him?" James repeated his question, anger starting to appear in his voice.

"They never beat him if that's what you're asking." Remus said hurriedly. James visibly relaxed…slightly.

"What did they do then?" He asked.

"Well, until Hagrid came to get him, he believed that you and Lily had died during a car crash." Sirius said darkly. "They made him sleep in a cupboard under the stairs until he started getting his Hogwarts letters, and I say letters because they were keeping them from him so Hogwarts kept sending the letters, and what else…" Sirius went on before trailing off. James was boiling.

"And no one did anything about this?" He asked, his voice now full of anger.

"The only thing we knew was from Arabella when the Dursleys' would leave Harry with her when they went on vacation or things like that. And all she knew was that Harry wasn't their favorite person." Remus said.

"But why did he go there in the first place?" James asked perplexed at Dumbledore's choice of living arrangements for his son.

"Because it is where he is safest, or was safest." Said a voice from the back of the office. Looking up, and in Sirius' case around, the three saw Dumbledore coming out of the shadows. "Even with Voldemort seemingly gone, Harry was still in danger. Only which I seemed to see. Death eaters almost as terrible as Voldemort were still at large and would be desperate. When Lily saved Harry's life James, she left him with the protection of a most accent kind, one that Voldemort despises and underestimates. The protection is still with him, is still in his mothers blood. So I placed him with his mothers blood, her sister." Dumbledore explained.

"When Petunia Dursley took Harry in, the charm was sealed, a shield was made from the bond of blood and his mother's sacrifice. Voldemort cannot touch a hair on Harry's head while he is there James." Dumbledore added softly to James who would not meet his eye.

"And Petunia knows that's she's done this?" James asked. Dumbledore inclined his head.

"She does, all was explained to her. It is of her knowledge that her taking Harry in she could be the reason Harry has lived to the age of fifteen." Dumbledore said. James could not answer this. His only thoughts were that he would be having a talk with Petunia Dursley as well.

"It is your decision what Harry will be told James, and only yours. My only request is that you also share with me what you tell Harry." Said Dumbledore after a few moments, understood by everyone that he was talking about the Prophecy. "Now, on a different matter, there is a room ready for you to take house in, James. And you as well Sirius. You will find it quite comfortable. I will show you know if you like."

"Harry's in the other room sleeping right now. We'll wait till he wakes up." James said. Again, Dumbledore inclined his head.

"I guess we should get back to Grimmauld place then?" Sirius asked glumly after a few moments had past.

"I am afraid so Sirius. I fully believe that Dolores Umbridge will be making an appearance in this office tomorrow-morn. Or this morning." Dumbledore answered. "Once James as settled into his quarters and has a password chosen, you will be able to move in. I am afraid to say that you will be confided to those quarters as well Sirius. And, on some days, you maybe asked to return to Grimmauld Place and keep watch or be there to help members of the Order." Dumbledore add, as though making sure that Sirius knew the fine print and would be easier to handle when the time came for him to go back.

"Yeah, alright, whatever." Sirius grumbled. "Let's get moving then."

* * *

Harry wasn't sure how long he was asleep for. He really wasn't even aware of falling asleep. One minute he was just waiting for James to collect himself from everything Harry had told him, and the next Harry opened his eyes to find James standing over him and shaking his shoulder gently to wake him. Blink back slight confusion, and pain coming from his neck, Harry looked up at his father who was smiling softly down at him.

"Hey," James said upon seeing Harry responding. "I thought you would like a little extra time this morning since you'll have to get back to Gryffindor Tower and probably take a shower and finish up some homework."

"What time is it?" Harry asked rubbing his eyes under his glasses, trying to shake off his sleepiness.

"6ish I think." James answered, offering Harry a hand to help him out of the chair. Harry took it and stood, feel the effects of sleeping in a chair all night. James must have seen Harry's discomfort because he said,

"Yeah, your gonna be feeling this chair all day." Harry merely groaned as he slowly started to make his way, still half sleep, to the door, with James walking beside him. As he walked Harry rolled his shoulders trying to make the aching in his back go away.

"Back hurt?" James asked watching Harry amused.

"Yeah, more of an ache then a hurt, but still." Harry said.

"Alright, I can fix that. Stop a second." James said. Harry obliged. James turned Harry around, and turned around himself. With his back to Harry's, James hooked their arms together then bent over abruptly, thus stretching Harry over James' back and bring Harry's feet off the ground.

"What the-" Harry said as James lifted him. But Harry stopped when he heard his back crack and at the same sound, James lowered him back to his feet.

"Used to really need to crack my back after Quidditch practice, and that was the only way me and Sirius knew how to do it. And beside, we just loved a chance to come close to causing harm to each other." James said turning to face Harry with a smile on his face. "Does it feel any better?"

"Yeah, but a little heads up would have been nice." Harry said, not even aware that he was smiling as well.

"Where's the fun in that?" James asked, smiling wider when the realization hit him that he and Harry were having a sort of father-son talk.

* * *

Harry walked back to Gryffindor Tower in very good sprits. Everything was out in the open with James now. All that was left now was for James to open up to him. Then, maybe, they could start to work on some sort of relationship. As the result of being so raped up in his thoughts, Harry didn't even notice that he was standing in front of the Fat Lady's portrait until she gave a loud, fake, cough to get his attention.

"Oh, sorry." Harry said, following it with the password. As he climbed into the common room, he was met with the sight of the Gryffindor early risers… and Ron. Harry looked from all the faces staring at him with looks of happiness and that sort, to Ron's grumpy one. Walking over to Ron with his eyebrows raised Harry asked,

"What are you doing up at six in the morning?" to Ron who, at Harry words, threw a dirty look at the stairs that led to the Girls Dormitories.

"Hermione woke me up. She wanted to know if you came back last night. When I told her you didn't she wanted us to go to breakfast right away so we could find you before classes started. Then she ran back to her dorm cause she forgot a book. And I bloody told her that you would come back. But no. And look, here you are." Ron said very grumpily. Harry had to laugh. He was just in such good sprits, and Ron's face and words were too much.

"Oh Harry, we were just going to look for you." Hermione said once she had sighted Harry and Ron standing together while she ran down the staircase. Seeing Harry smiling, and completely ignoring Ron's death glares, Hermione add, "You had a good night?"

"Yeah, he was in Dumbledore's office and we talked most of the night and got most of the crap out of the way." Harry said nodding understanding her meaning. He heard a gasp from behind him after he spoke. Turning to look, he saw Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil standing behind him with wide eyes.

"You saw your father last night Harry?" Lavender asked in an awed voice.

"Yeah." Harry said slowly, looking from one girl to the other. The looks on their faces was one that someone would be expected to have when looking at a puppy.

"And you two bonded? That is so sweet." Parvati said with a sigh. Harry looked at Ron and Hermione as if to ask for confirmation that he was really part of this conversation.

"Do you want to sit with us at Breakfast today Harry? We could talk if you wanted. Or we'd be happy tojust listen." Lavender said in a sweet voice, completely confusing Harry.

"Er, I really don't need to talk. But thanks." Harry said, unsure of how to handle this situation. But, what he said seemed to have worked because they smiled at him, said it was perfectly fine and they would talk to him later, and left the common room.

"What the hell was that?" Ron asked once the girls were out of earshot.

"You're going to be getting that a lot to day Harry." Said Hermione in an almost cautious voice.

"But…what was it?" Ron asked as again, as they started to walk out of the portrait hole. Harry would take a shower after breakfast; Merlin knows they would have time.

"They think its something out of the novels that they read. A father and son being reunited; its such a cliché idea, but so many people love cliché things." Hermione stated in a matter-a-fact way. Harry snort.

"How could something like this be cliché? It's gotta be a once in a lifetime thing. And when I say lifetime, I mean like Dumbledore's lifetime." Harry said.

"Does breakfast even start this early in the morning?" Ron asked seemingly not paying the slightest attention to what Harry and Hermione were discussing.

"Ron! Really! How can you be thinking about food at a time like this? Where you even listening to what we were talking about?" Hermione asked sharply.

"'Course I was." Ron said indignantly. "You were just call Harry and his dad cliché, and Harry just called Dumbledore old. I was too listening." Hermione said nothing to Ron being right that he was listening and instead changed the subject.

"So what did you and your dad talk about?" She asked, lower her voice even though they were alone in the corridor.

"I told him everything." Harry replied as they stopped to wait for a staircase. "Well, about Hogwarts and things like that. We didn't really cover the Dursleys'. He said we would "go back to that" cause he wanted to hear about everything to do with Voldemort."

"Oh, that must been hard. Hearing everything all at once like that, it must have been overwhelming." Hermione said worriedly.

"Are you gonna miss classes again today to talk to him about the Dursleys'?" Ron asked.

"No. He wants me to go to classes today. He said that he had some things to take care of today anyway. But I'm gonna talk to him after dinner. Maybe you guys can come and meet him." Harry said.

Before Harry had left Dumbledore's office James had told him a few things. The first being that Harry could tell people that he was with James during the night, the second that he wanted to talk to Harry again tonight (but not another all nighter) and that he couldn't see him until after dinner because James had some things to do. Harry had wanted to ask where James was going to be and what he was going to do, but James didn't offer the information and Harry didn't want to push him. Though, yes, things were going well between them, Harry still didn't feel that comfortable yet to pull an 'annoying teenager' act, along with call James dad.

"Yeah, I wanna meet him. It'll be cool to meet your _cliché _dad Harry." Ron said, pointedly stressing the word cliché and also, pointedly staring at Hermione who refused to look Ron's way and admit that he had won this argument.

* * *

While Harry was just sitting down at the Gryffindor table, laughing and joking with Ron and Hermione, his father couldn't be farther from doing either of the two. Taking a deep breath to calm himself, James raised his hand and pressed the little white button that was on the side paneled of the door. At the sound of the chimes ringing through the house, James took another breath as he saw a skinny, slightly distorted, outline through the rippling glass in the front door come closer and closer.

"Ye-" was the only thing spoken before a large gasp was emitted from the speaker at the sight of who was at her door.

"Hello Petunia. Yeah, it's me. Can I come in? There are some things that I would like to discuss with you." James said, voice soft and sad, as he gazed that the women who was his late wife's only remaining relative.

* * *

A.N- Had to leave this cliffhanger, it called to me ;) But, all the same I hope that you guys liked this chapter.

Sorry it took a while for me it get this out. I had a death in the family. My cat died, and she used to sit with me while I was at the computer so…

But I have to give you guys notice that it might be a while before I post again because, as I'm sure you all know, it's that time of the school year. Finals. And, as anyone from New York knows, (and anyone else in the other, like two, states that have to take them) it also time for the State Regents'. I gotta take 5 of them. And I have to pass and I want to pass with at _least_ an 85, which means I gotta crack down on the studying cause right now it's not looking so good. I really shouldn't even be doing this now; I should be studying. I'm going to end up writing anyways to get some breaks from the studying but…I'll be feeling really guilty.

Anyway, send me tons, and tons of reviews and wish me lots and lots of luck. And if I don't post again (which I really don't know if I will or not) think of me on June 16, 17, 21, 22, and 23!

Till next time, which I will try not to make a long time.


	23. Encounters, and the Lost Boys

The first time that Petunia really met him was when he came to see Lily for her sixteenth birthday. She had seen him a few times before trying to talk to Lily when they went to pick her up at the Train Station, and Lily seemed to hate him. It was a shock to see them almost flirting at her party; when Petunia questioned Lily about her chose in her male friends, Lily just smiled a little and said that he was "alright". That was when she first suspected that her sister was going to end up marring one of _her kind._ And then she brought him home to meet mum and dad over Christmas and that made it final; they were dating, in love, and going to marry one another some day. What upset Petunia even more then Lily more then likely going to marring this boy was how her parents were so taken with him; how they just seemingly loved him, and how she was finding it hard not to as well. He was charming, sweet, intelligent, and handsome.

When their wedding happened, she was hard pressed to find a time when Vernon ever really looked at her the way James looked at Lily. The next time that they came face to face, he was holding their son, and again, Petunia couldn't remember Vernon ever hold Dudley like James Potter held his son. It was these things that made her grieve slightly over his death along with her sisters. And it was these memories and old thoughts that came to the surface that blocked her judgment about letting a dead man into her house.

"Thank you for taking him in Petunia. I know that you were never fond of Lily or myself and it was very kind of you to take our son in." James said after sitting in Petunia's spotless living room in silence for five minutes. His words weren't spoken with sarcasm laced in; they were spoken very sincere, as if he meant them with all of his heart. And it cut Petunia so deep it felt like she was going to bleed on her white sofa that she was perched on.

"But, from what I've heard, that's just about all I can thank you for. Keeping my son safe, not keeping him happy, treated like a human, just safe." James went on when Petunia didn't say anything.

"But I did! I took him in! Lord knows that money just doesn't grow on the trees. We took him, clothed him, fed him," Petunia blurted out, she would not be treated like this in her own home! Who does he think he is? Coming in here after dumping his child with her after getting himself and Lily…

This thought hit Petunia like a ton of bricks. This man could _not_ be James Potter. James Potter was dead; this had to be one of those men that that Headmaster told her about. Feeling her breathing starting to tighten, Petunia slowly stood up, being very careful not to get any closer to James then she already was. James merely raised an eyebrow at her.

"Who are you?" she choked out as she slowly started to make her way along the couch to the mantel piece where there was many things to throw at him if she needed to protect herself.

"I'm Lily's husband. I didn't die that night, I was put into a coma and only recently I've come out of it. Everyone thought that I was dead." James said, deciding that the cliff-notes version of events would probably work better in this situation. He had to admit, that he was impressed with his self-discipline. How long had he been in the house without causing harm to her?

"What, what about," Petunia tried to say, stopping in her tracks to stare at James with her eyes wide, unsure of what she wanted him to say.

"No. Lily…No, only me." James said looking down, still unable to say the words out loud.

"Severs her right, marring you, you _freak_!" Petunia yelled, her sense of self-coming back to her. With her insult, she also threw a picture frame that was sitting on the mantel as hard as she could at James. James didn't even get out of his seat; he just moved his head to the left as the picture went sailing by his right.

"You know," James said; rage starting to show in his voice as he continued to sit there. "I haven't even spoken to Harry about him living here yet. So I might not even know everything yet. But what I do know, makes me upset. It would probably do you good not to say that Lily 'deserved what she got' in front of me."

"What do you want from me?" Petunia yelled. "I took him in! I kept him safe! You admit that! Why can't you be happy that I took him in even when my husband said "orphanage"? What do you want from me?" Petunia asked, throwing her hands up in the air out of frustration.

"I want you to spend ten years living in the cupboard under the stairs." James said in a soft, but deadly voice, rising from his seat. "I want you to grow up, not knowing who you really are. I want you, for ten years, to think that you're an orphan because your parents died in an accident, not as heroes, as his mother did. I want you to give up your childhood and give it to my son." James said, taking a few steps closer to Petunia who was rooted to the spot, staring at James with wide eyes. James stopped then added,

"Actually, I take that back. I don't want him to have your childhood, there's no way that it was good enough for him." James looked Petunia over and took in how scared she was. "Calm down. I'm not going to hurt you. I mean, after all, you did keep him safe."

"I did." Petunia said in a whisper, as though she was saying it to both James and herself.

"You did. But, I must tell you, that I will be speaking with Harry tonight about how his life has been living here. Is there anything you would like to tell me before he does? Because, I would hate to have to bother you again. You do seem so busy." James said, letting sarcasm slip into his voice at the end. Petunia paled a little, whether at the thought of James coming back, or at what Harry would say, James didn't know.

"Vernon would be a little, rough with him some times." She squeaked out, surprising herself that she was actually rating her husband out. "He never beat him or anything, he just was, a little harsh sometimes." She hastened to add as James merely stood in front of her.

"Any thing else?" James asked, mentally counting to ten in his head to remain calm. At his question Petunia shook her head feverishly. A few minutes passed in silence as James weighed the pros and cons of cursing Petunia, or her spotless house, off the face of the earth.

"You know," James finally said with a laugh while pulling out his wand, "There are so many spells I could use on you right now, to make myself feel a little better about this whole situation. But, I don't know. For some reason, I feel that if I just leave you, just go back to Harry, it would mess with you more. If I just leave you with the promise that one day, I might come back, maybe one day I'll come back and put your son in the cupboard." James said pointing his wand at the smashed picture behind him and repairing it.

After the picture was rid of rips and tears and the glass flew back onto the frame, James summoned it and looked at the picture of what looked like Dudley's fifth birthday party. It the back round of the picture, behind and to the left of the fat little boy that was opening a large present with his mum and dad surrounding him, a little skinny boy with messy jet black hair, in clothes much to big for him could be seen watching with a look of longing on his face.

Looking at the picture of Harry, James began walking toward Petunia. When he was standing just in front of her he brought his eyes up. She was still rooted to the spot, glancing from the picture, to James, and to the wand that was still in James hand. Reaching over her shoulder, James placed the picture back on the mantle.

"I'm going back to my son now." He said, turning and walking away from Petunia. When he turned back around he asked, "Do you think he's like Lily?"

Unable to speak, Petunia just nodded, remembering all the times Harry did something to jog a memory of the sister she wanted to forget.

"You're lucky then, he might not want me to come back." James said picking up and putting on his coat, which he had laid neatly on the arm of the chair he had been sitting in. "But then again, he's also my son, so he may want to." James added, not wanting her to think that she was off the hook.

"I took him to the funeral." Petunia said suddenly as James began to make his way out of the living room. "I thought he should be there. I stood in the back with him, but I took him." James stopped and stared at her.

"Thank you for taking him in Petunia." James said again turning and leaving the house, pausing only to look at a door that was set into the stairs, which, presumably, opened to reveal a cupboard.

* * *

Snape hated children. He really did; they were so naïve, and stupid. Was it really that hard to brew a Wit-Sharpening Potion? As he made his way to the Headmaster's office Snape thought over all the idiotic things that the students had done today, or this morning as it was only now lunch time.

Perhaps it was because he was so wrapped up in his wondering how a student could sneeze and end up ruining not only their own potion but also those around him, that he didn't see the person that reached the gargoyle that led to Professor Dumbledore's office at the exact same moment until they spoke the password before he could. Looking up and cursing himself for losing awareness of his surroundings, Snape's eyes narrowed as they landed on James Potter.

"What are you doing out of hiding? Dumbledore become sick of your presence finally?" Snape asked James coldly, ignoring the fact that the gargoyle and sprang to life, allowing them to pass.

"Now would not be the time to push me Snape. I have much pent out anger right now, and seeing and speaking to you does nothing but add to that anger." James said, just as coolly.

"What? Find out just how much your _son_ is like yourself and are disappointed?" Snape asked, knowing that he was going for a sensitive point. He was wrong, however, in his estimated of how far he would be able to push James, because at his words, James threw a punch that got Snape in the jaw.

"You know, I take what I said before back, you have helped with my pent up anger." James said, pulling his wand at the same time as Snape and squaring off with him. "You've just become my outlet." Snape's jaw was already starting to color were James hit it, but Snape showed no effects from it, his pain would only fuel James.

"You should be thanking me on your knees _Potter_." Snape spat, waiting for James to make the first move as then he could use the excuse of self-defense. "I kept your son from falling off his damn broom from a height that would surely have killed him. I _protected_ him from that and many other things as well. And I must say, it was rather tiring work as your son is so draft that he walks into dangerous situations with his eye's closed and his head up his-"

James didn't know what the hell Snape was going to follow that with, but he didn't care, there was no way that he was going to allow Snape to talk about Harry like that. Raising his wand, James opened his mouth to shout a hex when a voice boomed out,

"James! Severus!" Both, with wands raised, stopped and looked at the place where the gargoyle usually sat to see Albus Dumbledore standing there, looking between them. "You are both guests in my school, I will hate to have you removed." Dumbledore said, twinkle gone from his eyes. "Now, if you'll both follow me into my office," And with that he turned and stepped on the revolving stairs, knowing that both of his former students would do the same.

"Now," Dumbledore said once he had reached his office, not turning around as he spoke, making his way to his desk. "Severus, you did not come to see me last night. All is well I hope?" Dumbledore asked as he finally turned so that he could seat himself. He was greeted with the sight of James and Snape both sitting in chairs as far away from each other as they could.

"Yes." Snape said with a curt bow of his head. "I returned to Hogwarts rather late and felt that my report could wait." He went on, hoping that Dumbledore would not point out the fact that he was lying, because the truth was that, while coming back to Hogwarts at 2:30 in the morning, Snape never waited to give Dumbledore a report, no matter what it consisted of. Snape's had in fact come to the door of Dumbledore's office and his fist was raised to knock when he heard the voices of Potter, Black and Lupin inside. Not wanting to have to deal with them, he returned to his dungeons planning on speaking with Dumbledore during his lunch break.

"I see," Was Dumbledore's only reply. Moving his eyes on to James on, he calmly questioned, "Are you dressed in muggle clothes for a reason James?"

"Yes, I made a visit to a muggle town and didn't want to stick out. I asked one of the House-Elves to get them for me." James answered, knowing full well that Dumbledore would know where he was.

"You went to Privet Drive?" Asked Dumbledore with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes," James answered, feeling as though he were a student again and was being interrogated about some prank that had been pulled on Snape. "I went to go speak with Petunia." He went on, wanting to show that he had nothing to hide from, this, visit.

"And is the Magic Reversal Squad currently at number 4 Privet drive, James?"

"No, Petunia, and the house were left as found."

"Very well." Dumbledore said standing. "The room you will be staying in has been prepared and you may go there now. It will open with your name being the password for now. You may change it once you reach it. Fawkes will led you there." He went on as he walked over to Fawkes and stroked his feathers. Taking the hint, James rose from his seat and walked out of the office, followed by Fawkes who would take the lead once outside. Once James had left, Dumbledore turned back to Snape.

"He wants to know how young Potter is handling this." Snape said, not needing Dumbledore to ask the question.

"Did he give any reasoning behind it?" Dumbledore asked moving back to his desk.

"No. He just told me to report to him with how they are interacting with each other."

" I see. And as for the rest of the orders he issued?" Dumbledore asked sitting once again behind his desk.

* * *

As James followed Fawkes through the school to the place where he would be living for the rest of the year, and maybe even longer, James listed the things that he would love to do when he gets Snape into a corner in the dungeons. The list was so involved and James was so immersed in his thoughts that he hadn't even realized they had reached their destination until Fawkes cuffed him in the head with one of his wings. After sending a glare at Fawkes, James turned to look at the Portrait that was covering the entrance, and smiled when he saw what it was.

It was a large painting of a jungle scene, currently at daytime, and swinging from trees and running around were groups of boys, the Lost Boys in fact. Like most muggle fairy tails or stories, the one of Peter Pan was real in the Wizarding World. There was a wizard who took a De-aging Potions on his birthday every year to keep himself young forever, leading many of his friends and boys to follow the same path. But then he met a young girl named Wendy, with whom he fell in love with; Wendy, however, would not take any De-aging Potion, as she wanted to grow up. And so she did. Peter was so heart broken that he began taking Aging Potion so that he could gain that years that he had prevented. He's hopes were futile in the end though, as Wendy had just gotten married once he rejoined the Wizarding World. The muggle version was made into a more of a happy end.

The reason this painting made him smile was because Lily had once called him Peter Pan, and his friends the lost boys as they always acted so childish. Once they started going out, she often called him _her _Peter Pan because he had grown up for her.

His smile faded slightly as he thought of Lily and how much he loved her and missed her. Sighing and knowing that he wouldn't be good to have an emotion break down in the hallway, James stated his name to the Portrait, hoping that one of the Lost Boys would be able to hear him. To his surprise, the one boy that was seemingly missing popped out from behind a bush in the front of the painting.

"Yeah, that's what they told me the Password was. Will you be the one to change it then?" The painting of Peter Pan asked James, coming out from behind the bush.

"Yeah, make it Wendy." James said, thinking of how Lily had been his Wendy. He watched as the painting laughed and said,

"I have a Wendy too!" as the Portrait opened and allowed James to enter. Once inside, James was greeted with the sight of Sirius and Remus, have what seemed to be a very heated argument, completely unaware of James' presence in the room. While his friends were fighting, James took looked around.

It was a large room with forest green walls (not Slytherin green James happily noted), and set into one of the walls, surrounded by a comfortable looking couch, love seat, and two armchairs, was a fireplace. On the other side of the room was a kitchen set-up. There were cabinets lining the walls, with granite-topped counters underneath them and a wooden table with four chairs. Looking back toward the living room part of the large room, and looking past Sirius and Remus (who were still arguing over what sounded like how far one of them had once thrown a garden gnome) James saw stairs cases, one leading up, and one leading down.

"Oi!" James said to his friends, walking over to them. "Since you two broke into my living quarters, have any clue where the stairs lead?"

"James, tell Remus that when we were in 5 year summer break, that I did throw that bloody gnome over 100 feet!" Sirius said, completely ignoring James' question.

"Mate, you must be thinking of the gnome that, I, threw." James said, making his way over to the staircases and taking the one that led down. At his words James heard Sirius start yelling about how he really did throw one that far and that James was crazy to think that he hadn't, and Remus yelling at Sirius to stop yelling.

At the bottom of the stairs, James found himself in a sitting room similar to the one above him. This room differed by having all the walls white with an assortment of different colored furniture, and by having a door on every wall. Walking over to the one directly to the right of the entrance, James found one of the bedrooms.

Before James stepped into the room, it was bare master bedroom save for the furniture (which consisted of a large bed, two nightstands, a dresser, a desk with a desk-chair and a chair), but when he took a step inside, the room was painted a very dark blue, the floor was covered with a black carpet, the windows that were in the room had curtains that matched the carpet, the chair and now become very comfortable looking, much like those up stairs, was a deep red color, and the bed had a comforter and sheets that matched the color of the chair. Smiling, James looked up and saw an enchanted sky on the ceiling. It was just like his room as a kid. He closed the door and guessed that he had found which room was his. Walking over to the next door, James found the bathroom, which was a lot like the perfects bathroom except there was no swimming pool size bath. Waving at the painting of a mermaid that giggled at him, James closed the door and looked at the last three doors, wondering what they led to.

"That one," Sirius said, coming down the stairs and pointing to one of the doors. "Is mine. Stepped in to look around and it made itself to how I would want my room."

Walking over to the door and reaching it at the same time as Sirius, James gestured to Sirius for him to open the door. Walking inside the room behind Sirius, James was a little surprised at Sirius' subconscious choice of a room. It was very nice looking, but, very grown up looking.

The walls were a pale green, and seemed to have an ivory glossy paint sponge painted over it; something that Lily had done in some of the rooms in their home. The bed had a comforter that was a tan color and lots of decorative pillows in different shades of green and tan. The types of furniture were the same as what James had, except, these seemed like antiques. A part from how grown-up Sirius' room was as apposed to James, now seemingly childish room, Sirius' room also differed in its windows. James' bedroom had two windows, one above his desk and another one on the same wall, Sirius had one very large window, which the lake and the forest could be seen from.

"It's…"

"Odd." Sirius finished for James, falling onto the bed and looking around.

"You sure this isn't Moony's room or something?" James asked, walking over to the wardrobe and looking at the craftsmanship.

"Yeah, cause he walked in first, I came in after and it changed to this." Sirius said sitting up. "You know," he began to say, then with a quick look at James added "not a word though," and only after James nodded, signaling he would say anything, Sirius continued, "It reminds me a little of Paige's bedroom in that flat she used to have."

"Really now?" James asked, picking up one of the many pillows and raising an eyebrow, Paige never seemed like the person that would have a bedroom like this, then again, neither does Sirius.

"Yup. My room at Grimauld Place is really dark, guess that's why I got a room in my head that's really bright." Sirius said, nodding his head and looking around. James wanted to make some scathing remark about Sirius being in his old partner's rooms, but Sirius, maybe knowing what James was going to say, spoke ahead of him.

"The last bedroom didn't change for Moony though, we don't know who it's for."

"Harry maybe?" James asked, hoping that was the case. Sirius just shrugged.

"Come on, I'll show you upstairs." Sirius said getting off the bed and leading the way back up the stairs.

The floor above the living room and kitchen was a large study. Two of the walls were lined with book shelves, though no where near being as full as those in Dumbledore's sitting room, and there was a desk that greatly reminded James of the one that his own father used to sit at, that was stationed across for the door so that the person sitting there could easily see who was entering. There was also a sitting arrogant in this room as well, though a little more formal looking then the other two. While the couches and armchairs in the other two rooms were made out of material, these were brown leather.

"Reminded me of your dad's study." Sirius said, walking over to the desk and sitting on it, much like the manner he used to that annoyed James' father so much.

"Yeah, reminded me of it too. He used to living in there I tell ya." James said looking around.

"There you two are." Remus said, walking into the room. "A House-Elf was just in the living room, the one that's going to be taking care of things here and bring food and stuff like that. He said that if you need him, just call him. His name is Dobby. He's the one that's really fond of Harry." Remus went on speaking to James.

"Yeah, Harry told me about him." James said nodding.

"That's the one that's kind of crazy right?" Sirius asked, examining a letter opener that he had found on the desk.

"Yes Sirius." Remus said dryly, then he turned to James who was smirking at how Sirius never fails to annoy Remus with stupid questions. "I have some of your old stuff at my cottage James, if you want I could get bring it here for you." Remus said making the smirk that James had been wearing fade off his face.

"What kind of stuff?" James asked.

"Some picture, some little knickknacks, some books, basically stuff that had survived the, err, attack." Remus said.

"Alright." James said, remembering the state the house had been in and wondering just what hadn't been destroyed.

"Okay, then I'll be back a little later. Try not to destroy this place, alright?" Remus said to James and Sirius with a smile before heading out of the room.

"Why don't you go with him James?" Sirius said, jumping off of the desk and making his way over to James.

"Why?" James asked a little confused.

"It'll give you guys a chance to talk." Sirius said with a shrug of the shoulders.

"Good idea." James said, getting exactly what Sirius meant by talk; then hurriedly he walked back up the stairs to catch up with Remus.

"Hey, Remus, wait up." James said once he reached the main floor; Remus had just reached the Portrait hole when James called out to him.

"Yeah?" Remus said, adjusting his cloak.

"I'll come with you. Give you a hand bring everything over." James said walking over to Remus.

"You sure?" Remus asked, sounding a little doubtful. When James nodded he said, "Okay, were gonna have to walk to the edge of the grounds so we can apperate though." James nodded again but asked,

"Is it alright if we make one stop first?"

* * *

"Mister Potter," Professor Umbridge said in that simpering voice of hers, leaning over Harry's desk so not to disturbed the class, even though _everyone_ knew that _everyone_ was listening.

"Yes, Professor?" Harry asked, trying to keep his temper in check, he didn't want to have a detention tonight as he was planning to see James again.

"I have heard that you have been reunited with your father recently and I would like to offer you my congratulation." She said in sugary, fake, sweetness. Harry raised his eyebrows; he knew that she had to have more to say then that.

"And now that you have a guardian in the Wizarding World, I wish to have a meeting with him to discuss your behavioral problems. I will be sending him a note shortly, or giving it to him directly, but if you would be so kind as to pass his response back to me, that would be very beneficial on your part." She stated, smiling as though she were giving Harry a treat.

"And will you be discussing the detentions that you have been having me serve at this meeting?" Harry asked before he could stop himself.

He hadn't told James about the detentions yet, and he was slightly worried that Umbridge would get into contact with James before Harry could, but Harry was sure that his father would take his word over Umbridge's.

"Of course we will be discussing them Mister Potter. You peculiar habit of self-harm must be noted." Umbridge said as though she was shocked Harry had asked such a stupid question.

"Self-harm? What do you mean self-harm? I don't hurt my self." Harry said, unlike Umbridge, in a normal voice so the class didn't have to strain to hear him.

"Mutilating your hand with a quill Mister Potter is something that I believe falls under self-harm." She said, ending just as the bell rang, leaving Harry unable to answer her.

"Why that little," Ron began saying the second they were out of the classroom and out of hearing range, but he was stopped by someone behind them reprehending Ron before Hermione could.

"Now, now Ron. I do not believe you mother would like you speaking like that." Turning, the three saw Lupin standing close to the wall with his hands in his pockets smiling at them.

"But you have to hear what Umbridge said," Ron stated, believing that it would justify his choice in language. To there surprise, it did, because Lupin just nodded his head and said,

"Well in her case, I'm sure such language can be over looked. But, that is off topic. Harry, could you come here for one second, there is someone who would like a quick word with you." He said, gesturing toward an empty classroom. Having a slight idea of who might be in the room Harry said,

"I'll catch up with you guys," to Ron and Hermione and made his way into the room. He found, just as he thought he would, his father waiting for him.

"Hey." James said, hopping off of the desk that he had been sitting on. "I just wanted to tell you where I'm going to be staying. Do you know the painting of the Lost Boys on the sixth floor? To the right of big portrait of that old, fat Monk that's always sleeping?" James asked.

"Yeah," Harry said slowly, thinking of the painting that usually catches his eye as he makes his way to the common room.

"Well it's the Lost Boy's painting and the password is Wendy." James said.

"Alright. Do you want me to come to night?" Harry asked.

"If you want, and by that I mean if you're not swamped with homework, have tests tomorrow and want to." James said smiling. Harry smiled too.

"I'm going to be over Remus' getting some things for a while, but Padfoot is there now if you need him." Said James, trying to think of what else Harry should know.

"Okay," Harry said, then after taking a glance at his wristwatch he added, "I have to get going, or I'm gonna be late. I'll see you later," waving good-bye as he hurried out of the room. Once Harry was gone James turned to Remus who had been standing out of the way while Harry and James talked.

"Thanks, I just wanted him to know where to go in case he wanted to see me or something." James said.

"Not a problem. But lets get a move on now so that by the time we get back Sirius will have asked the House-Elves for some dinner and we can steal it from him." Remus said, opening the door that Harry had closed behind him and leading the way out of the castle.

* * *

A.N- Well look at that, I updated before I said I would. And in do so I haven't really study. Do you feel the guilt readers whom I love so much I updated sooner for? j/k, I wouldn't have studied a lot any way, with this I just have an excuse.

This chapter turned out to be kind of transitional, but, like a true transitional chapter, it's setting up for the next chapter, which a lot of stuff will be happening in. I was going to add some of that stuff into this chapter, but it would have taken longer to get out. So, it's in the next.

You guys know the drill. Please, please send me lots of reviews cause they make me so, so, soo happy and cause I _love_ to know what you think and cause I love seeing review alert in my mailbox! Again, think of me on the 16, 17, 21, 22, and 23 because I definitely won't be updating before then.

Till next time!


	24. One step forward

**Previously**

_"I have some of your old stuff at my cottage James, if you want I could get bring it here for you." Remus said._

"_Why don't you go with him James? It'll give you guys a chance to talk." _

"_Self-harm? What do you mean self-harm? I don't hurt myself." _

"_Mutilating your hand with a quill Mister Potter is something that I believe falls under self-harm."_ _Umbridge said. _

"_Alright. Do you want me to come to night?" Harry asked._

_"If you want, and by that I mean if you're not swamped with homework, have tests tomorrow and want to." James said smiling. Harry smiled too._

* * *

"You know, I do believe that the only thing that has changed, is the number of bloody books you have." James said, looking around Remus small cottage home. 

It was a very comfortable cottage, though not really made for more then one, two at the most, people. There was a tiny kitchen and eating area, and an area that seemed to be a combination of a living room and a study with two doors leading out of it, leading to a bathroom and a bedroom. There was a small television, a chair and a couch, and a small writing desk, all surrounded by bookshelves that stood about six feet tall.

"That's the same thing Sirius said." Remus said with a chuckle as he came back from the kitchen with a mug of hot tea. He handed it to James and said,

"Stuff from your house is kind of scattered, sorry about that, but look on the bookshelves. I'll check the basement." Remus said, waving a hand around the room before setting off to the door that led to the basement.

"Right," James said to himself after taking a sip of his tea then placing it on the desk before walking over to the bookshelf closest to him. Along with all the books, there were also a lot of little knickknacks here and there.

The first object that James found that belonged to him was his Auror Certification certificate. James smiled as he picked the picture frame that held his certificate up and looked at it. Receiving this was rated pretty high on James' 'best moments' list. Tucking his certificate under his arm, James continued his search, which didn't go on long before he found another thing, this something that belonged to Lily.

It was her Healer Certification certificate. Smiling, but this time sadly, James picked up the picture frame that held his wife's certificate and tucked it under his arm as well. After searching only two full bookshelves, James had found things varying from pictures, to the old snitch that Lily had bought for him during their first Christmas as boyfriend and girlfriend. Moving to the middle bookshelf, James stopped as he looked at the seven pictures that were at his eye level. James stared from one picture to the other, being hit by wave after wave of memories.

The seven pictures that James was staring at were the pictures that James' mother insisted on taking at the end of every year at Hogwarts. Going from left to right were the pictures of the Marauders growing up, from their first year, the year that started it all, to their seventh year. As he looked at the pictures, James realized that without even trying (because they were boys, why would they try something like this) every year they had posed for the picture in pretty much the same order, only varying in one or two.

James and Sirius stood in the center, whether James was on the left or Sirius was on the right changed in the pictures, but they still stood together; Peter and Remus stood at the ends, like James and Sirius, they swapped sides in the different pictures. It was the changes in pose and looks that stuck James the most however.

In the first ever picture, they all stood side-by-side, smiling and waving. Occasionally there would be a little pushing and shoving between them, but other then that, they just stood. The second year picture, Sirius had an arm swung over Remus' shoulders (it was not long before the picture that they confronted Remus about his disappearances) and James had his swung over Peters' (James mother had said that it would look cute). They were all smiling happily, if not a little annoyed at having to pose.

Third year, James was resting his elbow on Sirius' shoulder as Sirius rested his elbow on Peter's head. Remus stood leaning against James with arms his crossed over his chest; Again, all were smiling and laughing, mostly at their pose; which all started because Sirius just noticed that, while he had hit his growth spurt, Peter had yet to, thus making Sirius able to rest his elbow on Peter's head with ease.

Fourth year James was leaning against a wall with Remus, both with arms crossed over their chests smiling as they watched Sirius talk to some girl that was out of view, Peter stood to the other side of Sirius, watching him with an awed expression. It was only after picture James lean forward and hit picture Sirius in the back of the head did Sirius lean against the wall with James and Remus to pose for the picture, Peter quickly following suit.

In the picture for their fifth year, they were all sitting on the ground, surrounded by their trunks and other luggage, all of them looking dead tired, but all of them managing a smile for the picture. James watched as Sirius once again put an arm around Remus shoulders and give him an affectionate shake, and watched as his fourteen-year-old self reached over and ruffed Remus hair. Remus smiled weakly at his best friends. He remembered why they were all so tired; the night before had been a transformation for Remus, and Sirius, James and Peter had joined him for it. It wasn't the first time they had joined him, but it was the first year that they had, marking it as a milestone in their friendship.

The sixth year picture made James chuckle. Remus, Peter and himself were sitting on their trunks and Sirius was laying across them all propping his head and smiling lopsidedly for the picture. This pose didn't last long because all at once, James, Remus and Peter stood up, causing Sirius to fall making all of them laugh very hard. The last picture brought a sad smile to James' face. They were all standing in this picture, all with arms slung over the person next to them shoulders. Peter had his around James'; James had his around Peters' and Sirius'; Sirius, around James and Remus; and Remus around Sirius. All four of them were smiling once again, but they looked so grown-up when compared to the pictures before. And James knew why; just before this picture had been taken, Peter had asked if things were going to change, and no one could really answer him. The only thing that Sirius was able to say was that 'we'll always have those damn photos Prongs' mum makes us take once we get onto the platform,' which at the time caused all of them to laugh, but when the picture came, it made them all realize it was the last one they would be taking before they became part of the real world.

"Looks like you found most of it." Remus said, breaking through James' thoughts as he came up from the basement causing James to tear his eyes away from the pictures. "There wasn't that much that I took, and most of it was down here." He went on holding a worn, old looking box. James nodded and looked back at the row of pictures.

"Did my copy of these make it?" James asked, knowing Remus would understand what he meant.

"Yes actually. Two of them are yours. I lost mine of our first and seventh year, those two are yours." Remus said, setting down the box and walking over to James.

"After… after everything happened I could look at these pictures for a long time." Remus said quietly, staring at them like James. "I still kept them up, but I turned them face down. But then one day when Dumbledore came to speak with me for one reason or another he noticed them and asked me why they were face down. So I told him, and he said to me that the traitor wasn't in those pictures. Only my best friends. The traitor came later. After that, I could look at them again." Remus said, not really sure why he was telling James this; he hadn't told Sirius after all.

"And do you still believe that?" James asked, knowing that the traitor Dumbledore had spoken of, and the one that James was speaking of, were two different people.

"Yes." Remus answered firmly. "Wormtail… He changed after Hogwarts. Once he got into the real world." There was silence between them as they looked at the old photos.

"Do you remember that time, in our fourth year," James began, smiling softly as his picked up the fourth picture and brought it off the shelf. "When Wormtail convinced me and Sirius that it would be the best prank if we made all of the Slytherin's toothpaste turn their teeth pink?" James asked. Remus chuckled while he looked at the picture James held in his hands.

"How could I forget? We all had to hid in one bloody shower while one of them came in and crapped like there was no tomorrow." Remus said, shuddering at the memory. "And for us, there almost wasn't a tomorrow."

"Augh," James said, coving his mouth with a hand. "Just thinking about it still makes me want to vomit. God, I don't think I've ever tried harder not to vomit and laugh before. Merlin, I don't remember ever seeing Sirius' face like that before in my life."

"Yeah, I don't think I've ever seen him that green or sickly looking either." Remus agreed.

"Well yeah, beside the fact of the smell and the noise, he was sick over the fact that we couldn't twist this some how to our advantage because no matter what, it would mean we were in there with him, like we were." James said, knowing just how Sirius felt at the time.

"That had to be one of the few times we _all_ willingly decided to abort a prank." Remus said smiling fondly at his fourteen-year-old self and friends.

"Yep. And, that was also the time that me and Sirius swore that we would never let Wormtail talk us into something ever again." James said softly. Both Remus and James were silent for a few moments, both having a feeling of what was coming next.

"We didn't do too good of a job though," James said, placing the picture back on the shelf and stuffing his hands in his pockets. Remus said nothing. "But, he didn't totally convince though." James went on, turning and facing Remus. "He, he just put a little doubt."

"James, I've had this talk with Sirius and I understand," Remus started to say, trying to give James an out to this conversation, which James didn't seem to want.

"Believe or not, Sirius and myself aren't one person. What he was thinking, could be different to what I was thinking." James said, speaking seriously. "I'm sure Sirius told you about all the little things that Wormtail did and said to place that doubt." He went on, waiting for the nod from Remus before going on. "All the little, 'have you seen Remus lately? I saw walking into Knockturn Ally the other day. What do you think he was doing in there?' and things like that."

Again, Remus nodded. It was true that Sirius had told him everything that Wormtail had used and said to make James and Sirius believe he was the spy; Remus really didn't see why James felt the need to continue, why he couldn't just save them both pain this conversation could bring them, or Remus more over. With Sirius, it was different, both were guilty of thinking the other was the spy; it was easier to forgive and move on. But James, all Remus did was worry about James and his family's safety.

"Well, like I said before, it only put doubt in me. Notice how I said in me, Lily wouldn't have any of it." James said, smiling slightly as he remembered how Lily wouldn't let James think things like that about Remus.

"She kept saying that I was being ridiculous, and got that doubt out of me. We never thought you were the spy, Remus." James said, and Remus raised an eyebrow at him. Sirius had said that was the reason they thought of using Peter, and did, was because Remus was believed to be the spy.

"We, Lily and me, didn't want you to be Secret Keeper because we were afraid of what they might do to you if they ever found out it was you." James said softly.

"What?" Remus asked, completely thrown, this was very different from what Sirius had always said and what he himself had believed.

"What if they captured you, Remus? We didn't want to put you in the type of situation were they might use your condition to their advantage." James said, recalling the conversations he had had with Lily over this matter. "You remember all the attacks that were happening on villages that were caused by Werewolves. We were scared that they would keep you captive until the full moon, and then bring you to a village."

"I would never have told even," Remus began to say, deeply troubled by the fact that Lily and James would think that of him, even if he was put into that situation, which just thinking about made him cringe.

"I know you wouldn't have." James said, quickly hoping to reassure Remus there wasn't any doubt. "And we also knew that they would just keep using you to cause harm to other people; which we knew would kill you."

There was silence after James was done speaking, because both were unsure of what to say. Ever since Remus learned the truth about what really happened, Remus had, understood but still hurt because of the distrust his friends had felt toward him. But now, hearing from James that he didn't think Remus was the spy, felt almost as good as hearing that Sirius wasn't the spy.

"Thank you James." Remus said softly, truly meaning it.

"Nah, thank Lily." James said, even softer the Remus, feeling a slight pull at his heart. Coughing to try and rid himself of the ache that was starting to seep into his heart, James said "Come on, lets get this stuff back to Hogwarts."

* * *

"Hello? Anybody here?" Harry called, cautiously walking into the living room type area of where his father would be staying. Just has Harry begun wondering if he should call out 'James' a large black dog appeared coming down the stairs. Once the dog saw it was Harry it transformed into Sirius Black. 

"Thought it was you, but can never be to sure." Sirius said with a smile descending the rest of the stairs on two feet rather then four. Harry returned the smile but looked around again.

"You the only one here?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, James and Remus are still out. Anything I can help you with?" Sirius asked, making his way over to his godson.

"No, I'm alright, I was just…I was just gonna ask if… he wanted to come and, I donno watch my Quidditch practice." Harry said, hesitating a little, not meeting Sirius' smiling eyes.

"He would love that. In fact, I think that even if you didn't ask, and he heard that's where you were, he'd sneak and watch you anyway." Sirius said, hoping to reassure Harry that in no way, was the question he wanted to ask James stupid or childish.

"I asked the caption too, and she said it would be alright if he came." Harry said nodding, still not meeting Sirius' eye. "So, do you think you could tell him? Cause I have to get going." He went on, finally looking up at Sirius.

"Sure kid. As soon as he gets back."

"Thanks Sirius." Harry said, before turning to leave.

"Harry," Sirius called, Harry turned and looked at him. "This will mean the world to him you know." Harry smiled a little, almost embarrassedly and then continued his way out of the room.

After watching Harry walked out Sirius, smiling and humming tunelessly, went back up to the study. He was only in the study for about ten minutes before he heard James and Remus return.

"What are you so happy about?" James asked Sirius as he walked into the study with a box in his arms. Sirius knew that if James had to ask, and also came back to the living quarters that he must have just missed Harry in the hallways.

"Oh just my godson." Sirius said, looking at some of contents of the box that James had just placed on the desk.

"What about Harry?" James asked, slapping Sirius' hand off of the old snitch.

"He came in here about ten minutes ago looking for you. He wanted to know if you would be interested in coming to watch his quidditch practice." Sirius said, still smiling.

"Did he really?" James asked, staring at Sirius, feeling happiness start to swell inside of him.

"Sure did. So, if you want," Sirius began saying, but stopped as James ran out the room saying,

"I'll be back later."

Going back to his smiling and humming, Sirius continued looking through the box that James had brought in.

Walking as fast as he could without breaking into a full-blown run, James made his way down to the quidditch pitch. Ever since Sirius had begun telling James what an amazing flyer Harry was, James had been dying to see him at it. And the fact that Harry wanted him to come, to watch him, made the smile set of James' face almost impossible to fade. It was only 'almost' though, because as he walked, he was hit with a memory of Lily and himself paying a visit to the castle, which made his smile falter.

_"James, where do you think you're going with Harry?" Lily asked, hands on her hips as she watched James make his way down the hallway. _

_"I'm gonna take him to the quidditch pitch of course. He has to see where some of his happiest times at Hogwarts are going to be had." James said turning to face Lily with a look on his face that showed how much he thought this answer was the most obvious in the world. _

_"One, you are not taking my 10 month-old baby on a broomstick," Lily began, hands still on her hips._

_"I wasn't going to take him up," James interrupted him, trying to keep his voice innocent. _

_"And two, you're speaking as though it's a sure thing he'll make the team." Lily finished._

_" 'Course he'll make the team Lily. He's gonna learn from the best after all." James said, clearly affronted that Lily had doubts in her mind about Harry being a quidditch player. "Aren't you Harry?" James asked, holding his son up and level to his face._

_Harry giggled._

_"That's right, Daddy's gonna teach who how to fly and with that kind of teacher, there is no way you wont make the team." James stated to his son._

The memory hurt James for two reasons. One of the reasons being, of course, him missing Lily. And the other reason was that Harry made the team without any help from his father, because James hadn't been there to give it. These thoughts, while not driven from James' mind, were merely pushed back as the quidditch pitch came into his view.

* * *

As Harry went about the drills that Angelina had told him to do, Harry keep searching the stands with his eyes, looking to see one lone figure. He was looking for a lone figure, because there was already a group of people in the stands. The Slytherins had come to watch the practice again. So, needless to say, Ron was not having a very good practice session. But then, right after he released the snitch and was giving it a head start, he saw someone taking a seat in the stands farthest from the Slytherins. Even from the distance, and being unable to see who it was, Harry knew that it was James, he just knew. Feeling something in this stomach, possible a mix of happiness and nervous, Harry started looking for the snitch again; hoping that he would catch it quickly to show James how good he was. 

This hope that he felt almost made him stop his broom in mid-air. Why did he want to show James how good he was? But before he could even begin thinking of reasons, he saw a glint of gold and took off after it.

* * *

James watched as Harry went after the snitch. Sirius and Remus had not been telling tall-tales. In fact, James thought as he watched Harry make a very sharp turn to keep on the snitch's trail, it seemed that Sirius and Remus had down played Harry's ablates (or that's how it seemed to James at the least). Loud jeering, laughter, and yelling caused James to look around and see that he was not the only person watching the practice. 

A group of kids were all grouped together, pointing, laughing and jeering at the keeper, who had just dropped the quaffle. Looking at the group of kids, James determined that they had to be Slytherins. They're jeering continued as the keeper let the quaffle pass through his left hoop and the caption (or at least who James thought was the caption) began yelling at him.

When practice was finally over, and the Slytherins were making they're way down the stands to head back to the castle, and the Gryffindors were heading toward the locker room, Harry, a bit hesitantly, flew over to James.

"You are amazing." James said when Harry flew over to him and had dismounted his broom. Harry blushed slightly and looked down.

"Thanks," Harry muttered a bit embarrassedly.

"I feel bad for your keeper though, those Slytherins really threw off his game from the looks of it." James went on after a slight pause in the conversation.

"Tell me about it," Harry said, running a hand through his hair. "The keepers one of my best friends, Ron." Harry explained to James. "And he's pretty good. But once he makes a mistake, he gets all flustered. And the Slytherins don't help at all."

"No, I'd imagine they wouldn't." James said, looking over to the spot where the Slytherins had been sitting. "But no worries, cause when I was caption, I had almost the exact same situation. And, I do believe," James went on, thinking back on the keeper that he had taken on. "Not right after I left, but after my predecessor, he became caption himself."

"Really?" Harry asked, watching his father remember a kid that had been like Ron and risen to become caption. James nodded his head.

"Why don't you go get changed and come back up to, I guess we should come up with a name for it cause it's a pain to say 'living quarters' ever time." James said, voicing his thoughts aloud. "And, then I can tell you what I did to help the keeper stay on his game."

"Okay," Harry said getting back on his broom so he could just fly to the locker room instead of walk all the way.

"Do you want me to wait for you?" James asked, hoping that the question wouldn't make Harry feel that James thought he was a child.

"No it's alright, you go ahead." Said Harry. "Is it alright if I bring my friends Ron and Hermione to meet you?" Harry asked.

"Sure, I'd love to meet your friends." James said, glad that Harry wanted his friends and his father to know each other. They both stood there, Harry on his broom, smiling for about a minute before Harry snapped out of it and said,

"See you later then." And flew off toward the locker room.

* * *

**A half an hour later**

"Harry," Hermione called after him as he practically ran down the hallway. "I'm sure," she said, running with Ron beside her to catch up with their friend. "I'm sure that there is a logical reason behind what he said,"

"Of course there is." Harry snapped, stopping in his tracks and staring at his friends, breathing heavily. "Isn't it clear? Wasn't _he_ clear?"

"But Harry," Hermione tried again, trying to take hold of Harry's arm.

"No." Harry said, pulling the arm that Hermione had tried to grab out of her reach. "My…he…_James _doesn't want me, fine" Harry said, surprised at how hard it was for him to say those words. "Then I don't want him either." And he turned away from his friends and continued his way along the sixth floor corridor, heading toward the stairs that led to the seventh.

* * *

A.N- I apologize over, and over, and over again for how long it has taken me to get this chapter out. The delay was not that I forgot about this story, or anything like that, just that I experienced really bad writers block. When I stopped to study, I got completely thrown from my swing. Whenever I tired to write something I thought it was garbage, deleted it, and started over. I really hope that you guys understand. 

Now, there are some things I like about this chapter, other things I don't. And that little cliffhanger there, I couldn't help it. Sorry…but not really. And, also with that cliffhanger, (the part after 'a half an hour later') you're not suppose to get it. It will be explained in the next chapter. Again, you are not suppose to understand it. There will not be another post (I'm almost positive) before HBP comes out, and this is where my question for you guys comes in.

I want to know how you guys feel about me using new elements from HBP (characters, ideas, spells etc…)? I _do not _want to put spoilers in, but I'm sure there's going to be character's, new spells, and things like that, that I feel, will not "give away" the book. Your feelings about this are deeply wanted so if you could just add them into your reviews, I would love you a whole lot.

So, please, please, please hit that review button and tell me what you think of the chapter (I love know how you guys feel), and about using things from HBP.

Till next time, and an early Happy July 16 to you all.


	25. One step back

_**Previously **_

"_Harry," Hermione called after him as he practically ran down the hallway. "I'm sure-" she said, running with Ron beside her to catch up with their friend. "I'm sure that there is a logical reason behind what he said,"_

"_Of course there is." Harry snapped, stopping in his tracks and staring at his friends, breathing heavily. "Isn't it clear? Wasn't he clear?"_

"_But Harry," Hermione tried again, trying to take hold of Harry's arm._

"_No." Harry said, pulling the arm that Hermione had tried to grab out of her reach. "My… he... _James_ doesn't want me, fine" Harry said, surprised at how hard it was for him to say those words. "Then I don't want him either." And he turned away from his friends and continued his way along the sixth floor corridor before making a left, heading toward the stairs that led up to the seventh._

* * *

Ron and Hermione did not try and follow Harry, which Harry was grateful for. The words that James had said keep running through his head. 

_"I know this is going to sound incredibly mean, but why did he have to survive the war?"_ Was particularly the one that stung Harry the worst.

_"It's not fair that he lived through the war and Lily hadn't," _had been the last thing Harry heard James, his _father_, say before Harry had had enough and stormed away. Harry snorted with mirthless laughter at the thought of how, only a half an hour earlier, he had actually been eager to see his father again, and how his father seemed eager to see him.

* * *

_**A half an hour earlier.**_

After flying away from James, Harry quickly flew toward the locker room so he could get changed and catch Ron before he left. As he reached the locker room and landed, Angelina, Katie, and Alicia were coming out. Walking passed them, Harry saw that it was only Ron in there now, and he was looking quite miserable.

"Come on Ron, cheer up." Harry said, walking toward Ron and sitting next to him on the bench.

"You and I were at the same practice right?" Ron asked dryly, not taking his eyes off the bit of dirt on the ground that he seemed to find very interesting.

"Yeah, I was. And so was James." This caught Ron's attention.

"I saw you fly over to someone, but I couldn't see who. That was him then?" Ron said, looking at Harry. Harry nodded.

"And, he wants to meet you and Hermione. So hurry up, so we can go and get Hermione." Harry said, standing up.

"Nah, you should spend some more time with him," Ron began saying, trying to stay in his grumpy mood.

"But my dad was saying that he had a player just like you on his team when he was captain, and that he wants to tell you how he helped that guy." Harry said, sitting beside Ron once more, who was smirking at Harry. Confused by Ron's smirk, Harry asked him what he was on about.

"And you didn't even notice?" Ron asked in reply.

"Notice what?" Harry asked bewildered.

"You said 'my _dad_ was saying,' not '_James_ was saying'." Ron said, putting a slight emphasis on _dad_ and _James_.

"I did?" Harry asked. Ron nodded, still smirking. "Oh." Harry said, not sure what else to say. "Come on. We still have to get Hermione and change out of our Quidditch robes."

* * *

Once he had seen that Harry had landed safely -not that he doubted his son's flying abilities- James made his way down the stands and back to the castle. As he walked he went over the details of how he had helped his keeper in his head, so that he could discuss it with ease. He was so immersed in his thoughts that he didn't even notice that he had reached the entrance hall; his feet were just carrying him. The woman that he walked past as he started going up the marble stairs also went unnoticed, until she announced her presence with a loud, fake, cough. Giving a small start, James looked around, looking for the source of the unnatural nose. He found it easily. 

"Ms Umbridge," said James curtly, not moving from his place, which was a few steps above her.

"Mister Potter," She said, walking up to him. "It is so pleasant to see you again. I speak for the whole Ministry of Magic when I say Welcome Back." She went on once she reached James. James did not answer her. "I must say that, young Mister Potter must be thrilled as well?" She questioned.

Again, James did not answer her. His fists, however, reacted to her speaking about Harry.

"Speaking of young Harry," She said, as though James had been the one to mention Harry. "I believe that a meeting between you and myself, concerning your son might be in order. I am sure that the Headmaster has informed you of the misdemeanors your son has gathered so far in this school year alone?" She said, every word said with fake sugary sweetness.

"Misdemeanors, indeed." James said, speaking for the first time, gazing down at her. Even though they stood on the same step, James was still a good foot or so taller then her. She smiled widely at James, taking his statement to be that he believed her.

"Here," She said, pulling from her pocket a piece of pink parchment and handing to James who took it grudgingly. "If you could just come to my office at the date and time I have written, I believe this would be most beneficial for your son." She went on. James raised his eyebrows at her. "Oh, yes. There are most troubling facts that I have discovered about your son, Mister Potter, and I feel that you should know of them. But this," She said with a giggle, "is hardly the place or time to discuss them."

"No." James said, for being unable to say what he really wished.

"Very well then. It was most pleasant speaking with you Mister Potter." And with that she turned and walked back down the stairs. Moving his eyes from Umbridge's retreating back, to the piece of pink parchment in his hands, James shook his head and sighed, then continued on his way back to his room. Just as he was thinking about how unpleasant that meeting had been for him, and what on earth Umbridge had to say about Harry, James' once good mood was further damped by the sight of one other person whom he loathed, crossing his path.

"_Potter_."

"_Snape_." Both men stood there, waiting for the other to make the first move, their last encounter with each other still fresh in each mind. James took notice that Snape's jaw was no longer bruised, and he commented on the fact. Snape leered at him.

"I see that you are no longer, if ever, hurt by that fact that your wife has perished. You do seem to have recovered quite well. For the rest of us walking around the castle, it has been fourteen years, for you it has been about a week. And here I thought you had loved her." Snape said coldly.

There was silence. James could hear some kind of ringing in his ears as he stared at Snape with such hate that he was seeing red. Not even pulling out his wand, James suddenly advanced upon Snape. Grabbing him by the collar of his robes, James slammed Snape against the wall, not even aware that Snape had his wand jabbing into his neck.

"I don't _ever _want you to think that I'm not in pain over Lily. I don't _ever_ want you to think that I didn't love her. I don't _ever _want you to even _think_ about Lily. She is too good to be thought about in your sick, twisted mind." James said in a low growl. For whatever reason, Snape did not curse him; he merely looked at James with loathing. "Go report that back to your Master." James said, removing his hands from Snape as someone would remove their hands from a bubotuber that was about to emit its disgusting pus.

Snape was saying something but James wasn't listening at all; he was to wrapped up in his own thoughts. Not the cheerful thoughts as they had been when he had first entered the castle, but thoughts about Lily, and how he missed her. Dimly, somewhere in the back of his mind, he wondered if it was healthy to have such abrupt, sudden, and often changes in your mood.

"Password, mate?" Peter Pan asked once James reached the painting.

"Wendy." James said softly.

"That it is." And the painting swung forward to let James in. Looking around, James didn't see Remus or Sirius, but the sounds of voices could be heard coming down the staircase. Taking his cloak off and throwing on the coach, James made his way up to his friends to ask if they could still perform a good cheering-charm.

* * *

"Hermione, do you really want to talk to Harry's dad about spew when you first meet him?" Ron asked as Hermione returned from the girls Dormitory with her collecting tin in her hands. 

"It is a bit much during the first meeting Hermione." Harry added, though he was smiling.

"Oh, alright. Fine." Hermione said, setting her tin down on one of the tables.

"Now can we go?" Ron asked impatiently.

"Oh, stop Ron. It took me a minute to go up to my dormitory to get it. It did not take that long." Hermione said. Not even saying a word as Ron opened his mouth to retort, Harry made his way out of the common room, knowing that they would follow. As Harry made his way along the corridors he hoped that his father would like his best friends. Not that it would change anything if he didn't, but Harry just hoped that he would.

Once they reached the panting of the Lost Boys, Ron and Hermione stopped arguing.

"Password?" Said Peter Pan who was currently hanging upside down from a tree.

"Wendy." Harry said.

"Right you are." And the painting opened for Harry, Ron and Hermione to enter. Harry went in first and looked around. There was no one there.

"Oh, it's so pretty," Hermione said from Harry's side.

"No one here." Ron said, from Harry's other side.

"That's his cloak." Harry said pointing to it where it lay on the couch. "They must be upstairs, or downstairs." And he walked over to the stairs. Once he was standing next to the stairs, Harry could hear voices coming from those that lead up. He waved Ron and Hermione over to him, and began to climb them when he heard some of what was being said, and stopped on the second step.

"My day was going great, but he had to go and ruin it." Harry heard James say.

"It couldn't have been that bad." That voice belonged to Remus.

"Yes Remus. It was that bad. I mean you should have heard him. And what he said, " James was talking again, but Harry couldn't hear the rest of what he said because at that moment Hermione spoke in his ear.

"Harry, what," But Harry waved at her to be quite so he could hear.

"...care. As if." Harry only caught the end of what James had said. "It was such a nice day. I had to leave," Harry couldn't clearly hear what word he said, butit could havemaybebeen'castle'. "He had to go out of his way to cross paths with me. I wouldn't have said anything to him, I wouldn't have bothered him, but no."

Harry suddenly felt a small lurch in his stomach. James wasn't talking about him, was he?

Remus said something again, but Harry couldn't hear it. But what ever he had said, made James snort with laughter.

"Were you not paying attention Remus? I have been trying. He's the one in the _relationship_ that's making things difficult. I know this is going to sound incredibly mean, but why did he have to survive the war?"

"James." Harry heard Remus say sternly.

"No, really Remus. As if things weren't messed up and different when I came back as it is, he's still alive. It's just," James sighed. "It's not fair that he lived through the war and Lily didn't."

Harry heard enough. Turning around, he made his way back down the staircase and out of the portrait hole, slamming it shut behind him. Hermione and Ron, startled at first, didn't hesitate before taking off after their friend.

* * *

_**Present**_

"And, then he just stormed out." Hermione said to James when he found them in the hallway.

Sirius, Remus, and James had been sitting in the Study when they heard the Portrait hole slam. Just as they reached the living room, they saw two people hurriedly leaving. Remus and Sirius said that they recognized the two by their hair as being Ron and Hermione, Harry's best friends. Unsure of why they were leaving, and who had slammed the Portrait hole, James and Remus followed after them. Once in the corridor, they saw Ron and Hermione standing about half way down, watching a persons walk away from them. The messy black hair that covered the head of the person told James at once that it was his son that was walking away from his friends. Confused, James and Remus walked up to Ron and Hermione and asked what had happened. It seemed that Harry had heard some of what James, Remus and Sirius had been discussing.

"But, why would hearing that upset him?" James asked the two teenagers standing in front of him. "Surely he knew that," James started saying, but at the looks of pure shock on the two's faces, he stopped.

"You and Harry were aware of the fact that James was speaking of Severus Snape, I hope?" Remus asked.

"Oh!" Said Ron, his narrowed eyes that had been on James widening at once. "That makes a bit more sense."

"Um, no." Hermione said, unnecessarily after Ron had spoken. "Harry believed that you were talking about him."

"He can't have," James said, staring at her, in his turn of shock. "He must know, I mean, I'm his dad," He stumbled on.

"Do you know where Harry would have gone?" Remus asked. Ron and Hermione shook their heads. Turning to look at James who was still standing dumbstruck, Remus said, "Finding Harry and explaining to him that you were talking about Snape would be the best move right now."

"Right." James said, nodding, looking down the corridor. "I'll go look for him now," He started walking down the corridor, despite having no idea of where he was going. Once at the end of the corridor, James made a right. After walking along another corridor for a short time, he made a left, and walked along yet another corridor, but finally came to a stand still.

"Alright, he's your son. Father's intuition should kick in any time now." James stated out loud as he looked down the empty corridor. But no sudden thoughts of where Harry might be came to him. James didn't have the slightest clue as to where to even begin a search. Just as he was about to make a move, James realized that the corridor was no longer empty of anyone besides himself.

"Hello Mister Potter. I was looking for you." Simpered Umbridge once she came in haling distance of James. James bit back a groan.

"And your reason for looking for me would be?" James asked bluntly when Umbridge didn't follow through on her explanation. What more could she have to say to him that she didn't already say during their first run in? For a second, James thought he saw her smile falter, but when she spoke, it was with even sweeter then before.

"The Minster of Magic is currently at Hogwarts and wishes to speak with you." She said.

"I'm busy at the moment." Umbridge seemed very thrown by this reply.

"The Minster of Magic is a busy man Mister Potter, surely I do not need to remind you of this. And he is taking time out of his busy schedule to speak with you. I cannot think of anything that could make you too busy to speak with him." Umbridge said, sweetly after she had collected herself. James wasn't fooled though; he heard the command underneath the over-the-top sweetness. On normal days, James would tell Umbridge to piss of, but then again, on what used to be normal days James was working in the Ministry of Magic and would never dare to not do as the Minster said.

As James stood sizing Umbridge up, he thought that he might as well go and see what Fudge wanted. He had no clue where Harry was, and there was nothing to be done about the whole 'Harry Situation' until James knew that little bit of information. And even if he did find Harry, maybe it would be best to give him time to cool off; Merlin knows the teenager was bound to be highly emotional right now.

"Very well." James said flatly, knowing as soon as he spoke that he should have just went on with his search for Harry. "Where is the Minster now?"

* * *

After watching James walk hoplessly away, Remus turned to Ron and Hermione. 

"If you see Harry before James gets a chance to speak with him, please explain the situation. And tell him that James wants to talk to him when he's ready." Remus said calmly to the two teenagers.

"We will." Hermione said, while Ron nodded his head next to her. They both turned and walked away, back to Gryffindor Tower Remus guessed. Remus turned and headed back into the living quarters where he knew Sirius was waiting. Sure enough, Sirius was sitting on the back of the couch, facing the door waiting for someone to come back in and tell him what was going on.

"Harry, Ron, and Hermione heard some of what we were talking about up stairs. Problem is, Harry thought that James was talking about him instead of Snape." Remus explained walking over to Sirius who hopped off the back of the couch. Sirius swore under his breath.

"Where's Harry and James now?" Sirius asked.

"No idea. Harry was walking away when we got out into the corridor and by the time James went after him, he was long gone." Remus said rubbing his eyes tiredly.

"And James is looking for him any way even though he has no idea of where to find Harry?" Sirius asked, even though he knew the answer.

"Yes."

"I think I have an idea of where Harry might be. And, I think that maybe I should have another talk with him before he talks to James." Srius said and then transformed before Remus could say anything. As a dog he ran over to the door, opened it with a paw, and had whipped his tail out of sight before Remus could yank it back into the room to make him answer some questions.

* * *

A.N- If you guys want to hate me for taking so long to get this chapter up and out, please do. Cause I don't think I feel enough toward myself. But, I promise all of you that the lack of updates wasn't because I forgot about this or didn't care. 

I still had some left over Writers Block from the last chapter. Every time I sat down to write, I didn't like what I was writing. The emotions for this chapter weren't how/what I wanted, and I didn't want to give you guys something that didn't pass my 'well it doesn't make me really happy, but it's got the feel I want' test. On top of that, I got a new laptop which didn't have what I did have of chapter 25 on it, and the computer that did have chapter 25 in it, was/is slowly crashing. Yesterdayish it was behaving long enough for me to get on it, however and save the chapter.

The shortness of this chapteris killing me, but the sight of the 'last updated 7-12-05' kills me more. But review for it and tell me to get my butt moving and the next chapter will be out and be longer and good...er. (Yes I know, I'm trying to be funny to make you like me)

Please, please, review and tell me you hate me, tell me this chapter falls flat (cause I get the feeling it does), or be a wonderful person and tell me that you thought it was okay. Whatever floats you boat will make my day one away or another.

A big, big, big thank you goes out to Fire and Napalm for acting as Beta for this chapter, and maybe more to come if she's still up for it. (She didn't do the last part so if it sucks, it's all me.) She's one of the reasons this chapter is out now instead of mondayish because it would take till then for me to get a spell check on my laptop.(I wrote the last bits of this chapter on the Wordpad thing that comes on computers when you buy them.)

Review, and I'll love you...aw, who am I kidding I love you for reading anyway.

"Keep Li/oving" and Till next time, which I promise wont be that long again!


	26. Loyalties shown

"So is this going to become your haunt, Harry?"

"Guess so." Harry answered, not turning to look at his godfather. Once again, Harry's feet had led him to the Astronomy Tower when he needed to clear his head and just get away. "How did you get up here? You didn't transform to open it did you?" Harry asked knowing that Sirius would have had to come up the tower as Padfoot while also wanting to keep questions from coming his way.

"You left the trap door open; I was able to push it open." Sirius answered, moving closer to the parapet where Harry was sitting with his feet dangling off the edge. Once he reached Harry, Sirius glanced down at the long drop from where his godson was seated.

"What are you doing up here?" Harry asked coldly when Sirius did not venture any information and they had been sitting in silence for some time. Slightly taken aback by Harry's tone, Sirius turned so that he was leaning with his back on the parapet so that he could look at Harry easier.

"Do you know another one of the reasons why people didn't check to hard to see if James was dead?" Sirius asked.

"Because Voldemort kills people all the time." Harry said, not looking at Sirius.

"Because no one thought that there was anything suspicious about James giving his life to save his family." Sirius said, answering his own question as though Harry had not spoken. "Everyone knew that he loved your mum and you so much, that he would give his life without any hesitation. Now, with that said, tell me honesty. Do really believe that what you heard James saying was about you?"

Harry did not answer.

"In the time it took your dad to get from the Quidditch pitch back to the Quarters, he ran into Umbridge and Snape. Umbridge basically told him that you're a bad kid, and Snape said that James was no longer in mourning over Lily." Sirius said sternly, glad that he was able to see the pieces falling into place in Harry's mind. If he wasn't so upset with Harry jumping the conclusions as he did, Sirius would not be speaking as he was. "Again, do you really think that James was talking about you?"

"No." Harry said so softly the wind almost stole it.

"Harry, why did you even think that though?" Sirius asked, dropping his stern tone and taking a softer one up in it's place. "That's a real big conclusion to jump to."

"I don't know." Harry said, still very softly. "I guess I was just waiting for the floor to come out from under me, you know? Cause everything was going so good."

"Harry… I know this is hard and difficult for you… But, when we first met… I asked you to come live with me, you said yes and you were excited about it. And this was ten minutes after you learned I wasn't a killer." Sirius said, voicing some thoughts that had come to him. "How come you were so willing to except me, and are so against James?" He asked, unsure if he really wanted to know an answer. Harry looked at Sirius for a few seconds before answering.

"You weren't asking to be my father." He finally answered. "And… I think then I was just so desperate to have someone. But now, I've just seen so much, I'm older and well, I have you." Harry said, saying the last part a little sheepishly.

"James is ten times the man I will ever be Harry. Add the fact that I've been a crappy godfather, and it'll show that James can be, and give so much more to you." Said Sirius. "Harry, you need James in your life. Moreover, James needs you in his life. But that can't happen if you keep waiting for the floor to come out from under you."

"It did with you though." Harry replied. "I was going to live with you, but you had to run for it. Why should this time be different?"

"Because everything is different now Harry. Can't you see that? You're making things harder then they really are Harry." Harry didn't answer.

"It's getting late." Sirius said not really knowing what else should be said or needed to be said. "You should get back to Gryffindor Tower." Harry nodded. "Maybe tomorrow you can come round and say sorry to James about jumping to conclusions and he can meet Ron and Hermione properly?" Sirius asked. Again, Harry just nodded. "Alright. I'll see you tomorrow then kid."

Harry was just at the trap door when he said,

"Sirius, you weren't, and aren't a crappy godfather." And opened the trap door and walked down the steps.

* * *

"Well hello Mister Potter." Fudge said brightly when James and Umbridge entered Dumbledore's office. The tone in which Fudge was speaking to him now was pretty much the exact opposite from what it had been the last time he and James were face-to-face. Once in the office herself, Umbridge took her position on the right side of Dumbledore's desk, mirroring Fudge who stood on the left.

After being addressed such by Fudge, James cast a raised eyebrow glance at Dumbledore who was seated in the grand chair behind his desk. Dumbledore merely continued to smile politely, eyes twinkling, not giving anything about this meeting away.

"Hello Minster." James said, standing so he was directly across from Dumbledore with his hands behind his back and his feet together: typical Auror standing at attention fashion.

"Dumbledore has contacted as at the Ministry that he has information about the current situation. And I felt that you should be present for this, James, as it is really all about you. I can call you James, can't I?" Fudge asked, smiling at James widely.

James did not answer the question. He wasn't stupid; he knew what was going on. Fudge was trying to become friendly with James, though admittedly James was not to sure of why.

When James did not answer his question, Fudge cast a glance at Umbridge whose own eyes stand fixed on James. From Umbridge Fudge's eyes moved to Dumbledore who was still smiling politely, though he looked as though he knew what James and Fudge were thinking and found the whole thing rather funny.

"Right, well. Dumbledore, why don't you share with us your findings?" Fudge said at last. Dumbledore inclined his head.

"Yes of course, Minster." He answered.

"Weasley, are you ready?" Fudge asked, looking at someone behind James. For the first time since entering the office, James broke his Auror training and turned his head so he could see to whom Fudge was speaking. James saw that it was the scribe who had been present at his questioning. James recognized the name 'Weasley' and wondered which Weasley kid this was, and why a member of the Weasley family would be working so close to Fudge at a time like this.

"Yes, sir." The young Weasley said perching his quill on the parchment he had resting on his knee.

"After searching through Hogwart's library and my own personal library, I was unsuccessful in finding any spells that could have been the cause for James to have been kept alive as he was." Dumbledore said. Fudge rounded on him.

"You mean to tell me that you called me hear to say you don't know what happened? I am most sorry for this James," Fudge said, his tone changing from the harsh one he directed at Dumbledore, to one an uncle would us to his favorite nephew has he addressed James. "If you will come back to the Ministry, we have people that will be more adapt to find out what was done to you."

There it was. That was the reason Fudge was being so friendly toward James. He had come to Hogwarts hoping that James would leave it with him. Maybe even hating or disbelieving Dumbledore along the way.

"You are to hasty Cornelius." Dumbledore said politely. "My inability to find any spell in the library's I have searched leads to the explanation that Lord Voldemort created the spell himself. There were several spells that I found that were similar in some ways to the one that was performed on James, but they were not the same. I believe that it was a combination of the Bewitched Sleep spell and _Alimonium_. The first make James appear to be dead, the second allowing him to be under the first for as long as he was without dying of lack of essential nourishment." Dumbledore said.

"Why did these spells wear off now though?" Fudge asked. James had a suspicion that Fudge only knew what one of those spells was; not many did know about _Alimonium_. This spell provided the person it was cast on to, as Dumbledore said, get the essential nourishment needed to survive. It was a spell that been used less and less as Wizards began to take House-Elves with them when they went away for battles thus tending to deaths cause by lack of food and water.

"To that question, I have no answer. I do not believe it was planed however, for fourteen is an oddly specific time period; and of course Voldemort had planned that he would be able to collect James' body before he Disapparated." Dumbledore said.

"Well," Fudge said, bouncing on his feet as he looked from Dumbledore to James, who had been silent through out this whole meeting. "James, if you are unsatisfied with Dumbledore's opinion, the Ministry would be happy,"

"Why wouldn't I be happy with Dumbledore's opinion?" James asked with a raised eyebrow. For a moment or two, Fudge seemed to be unable to come up with a reason. Umbridge had to step in and say something for him.

"The Ministry can give you a second opinion. So that we can all be sure of what was done to you." She said.

"And why am I needed at the Ministry for them to conduct a check of what Albus believes happened?" James asked, purposely saying Albus instead of Dumbledore so they would clearly get the message of where his loyalties lay.

"For the same reason that you were needed at Hogwarts." Fudge responded.

"I came to Hogwarts yes to be here to answer any questions Albus might have, but also to be with my son." James said firmly.

"Yes but," Fudge started to say, but James had just about had enough.

"Minster, forgive me, but I was in the middle of something before Professor Umbridge told me my presence was requested. Albus' account for what was done to me seems completely logical and I accept it as what happened." James said, speaking in a professional manner. "Is there anything else that I can help you with?"

"Yes, James there is. If you would just step out into of the office with me for a moment," Fudge said, walking past James and gesturing toward the door. "No Weasley stay here." Fudge said, has the scribe stood up to follow. Seeing no way to avoid it, James followed. Once they were out of the office and a few steps way from the doors, Fudge began to speak.

"It pains me to be the one to tell you this James, for I am sure that you have not been told yet, but Dumbledore has been losing 'it' lately." Fudge said.

"'It'?" James questioned.

"Yes, well he has been getting senile. And as a result of it he has been voted out of the Chairmanship of the International Confederation of Wizards, he has been demoted from Chief Warlock on the Wizengamot and there has even been some discussion about his Order of Merlin, First Class being taken away." Fudge said. James was aware that the Ministry was discrediting Dumbledore, Remus and Sirius had filled him in on it during his period at Grimmauld Place.

"Yes, I was already aware of the positions that had been taken away from Albus." James said.

"Then you know who you are putting your trust into? Dumbledore has been causing a lot of trouble lately James. Trying to scare people with talk of the imposable. You taking his word like this might put you in the same boat with him. I would hate to see you in that situation."

"This talk of the imposable that Dumbledore has been trying to scare people with, that would be Voldemort's return I am guessing?" James said coolly, trying to ignore the shudder Fudge gave at the sound of Voldemort's the name.

"Yes, quite the crackpot idea isn't it?" Fudge said, trying to laugh, but failing upon seeing the look on James' face.

"Dumbledore's word is based upon my son's word." James said. Fudge's face paled a little. "I am putting my trust into Dumbledore's opinion. And I am also basing my beliefs upon my son's word."

"And that is your decision." Fudge said, or maybe he question, James was not sure.

"It is."

"Very well then. Remember that I warned you." Fudge said stonily.

"So long as you remember that we warned you, Minister."

* * *

As James walked away from Dumbledore's office, he checked his watch. It was a quarter to ten, past curfew; meaning Harry would be back in Gryffindor Tower by now and that continuing his search for his son would be pointless. With a sigh, James made his destination his Quarters.

During that little meeting, only a few good things happened. The largest being that the Ministry should give him some space now, the next being that he had made his position on Dumbledore's side known. Other then that it had been uneventful. He had not even been able to bring something about Umbridge's suspected treatment of Harry up. James guessed that would have to wait for their meeting which was to be held on Friday, which was in three days time. Just as James was making his way up a set of stairs, he thoughts about what he would say and do to Umbridge during their meeting were blown from his mind as he saw Sirius' Patronus coming toward him. Once the Griffin was level with James, he heard a Sirius whisper something as clearly as though he himself was standing next to James on the steps.

'_It's alright,'_ Sirius said. '_You can come back to the Quarters.' _

Once it's owners message was done the Griffin faded away, leaving James once again standing alone on the stairs. Moving a little quicker now, James continued his way to the Quarters. He guessed that Sirius saying that he could come back meant that Sirius had spoken to Harry and was able to tell him that James had been speaking about Snape. Maybe it was better that Harry heard it from Sirius and not from James, they did seem to be close.

"Wendy." James said to the painting of the Lost Boys, who were all sleeping.

"Mmhmm," Peter mumbled sleepily before the painting swung forward.

"You talked to him?" James asked as soon as he entered and saw Sirius sitting in front of the fire.

"Yeah, I found him and talked to him. Set him right with the whole eavesdropping thing as well." Sirius said, not taking his eyes off of the fire.

"Thank Merlin for that." James said, falling onto the couch and running a hand over his face. "Did he say why he thought I was talking about him?" James asked.

"He said that he was just waiting for the floor to fall out from under him." Sirius said, eyes still staying on the fire.

James frowned at this. He didn't like the idea that Harry felt that way. But, with everything that Harry had gone through, James could not really blame him. Hell, when James had first started dating Lily he felt that same way. Lost in his own thoughts, James fell victim to the fire and began to stare at it burning the logs in the grate. Sirius however, pulled his eyes away from the fire for the first time since James had entered, and looked at his best friend.

Sirius opened his mouth, was about to speak…and then closed his mouth. He didn't want to voice these thoughts to James and worry or upset him. And there was no way he could avoid that if he told James that he might be the reason Harry is having a hard time adjusting to having a father.

"I need to write an owl." Sirius said suddenly. James looked around at him. "And I think I'm gonna head in after I write it."

"Okay." James said, knowing that if Sirius didn't say who he was writing to, he didn't want to say. "I'll see you tomorrow then."

"Yeah." Sirius said, getting up and heading up stairs to the study.

Torches flickered to life as Sirius walked into the large room and headed over to the desk. He wasn't sure when he had decided to write a letter to her. In fact, Sirius couldn't even remember considering it. The words just poured out of his mouth. Sitting down behind the desk, Sirius picked up a quill that lay there and began opening draws looking for parchment. Finding it, he pulled out a piece and dipped his quill in the ink that was also already on the desk. With a moments hesitation, Sirius placed the quill tip to the parchment and began to write.

After he had finished the letter and read it over a few times, Sirius folded it and sealed it with a tap of his wand. Unsure of how he should proceed next, Sirius called for the Quarters House-Elf.

"Doddy," he said clearly into the empty room. A second after he spoke however, the room was no longer empty. With a crack, Doddy the House-Elf had appeared out of thin air.

"Sir calls for Doddy?" The House-Elf said while bowing.

"Yes." Sirius said, standing from behind the desk and walking around it. "I need to mail this letter, tonight. Do you think you could get it to an owl for me?" Sirius asked.

"Yes sir." Doddy said, reaching out for the letter Sirius had held out for him. Doddy glanced at the letter, then glanced up at Sirius. "Sir has not put who the letter is meant for so the owl knows sir. But if sir wishes, sir can tell Doddy, and Doddy will tell the owl where it is to go with sirs letter." Doddy said, sounding fearful that he had spoke out of turn.

"You can tell the owl." Sirius said kindly, smiling at Doddy. "The letter is for Paige Summers."

* * *

A.N- A bit of a wait between, but out much sooner then it took for the last chapter. You guys are really, really great. Really, I mean it. After such a long wait you guys were still reading, and that makes my heart beat. Thank you for reading, and thank you so, so soooo much for reviewing.

To keep my A.N's a little shorter, I'm going to (hopefully) put some of my thoughts about this chapter in my profile tomorrow. Not tonight because, as usual when I make a update, I have some school work that I have put off to the last minute.

So check it out tomorrow night.

Hit that button please, drop a line, and make me have something to look forward to when I get home from school tomorrow.

Till next time!


	27. Discussions and Homework

Sighing, Paige ran a hand through her hair has she read the report she held with her other hand. She was brushing up on some of the Death Eaters that were tried but walked free at the end of the Fist War. Each of the files contained information ranging from personal facts such as the suspected Death Eaters family or girl friends to the reasons they were believed to be Death Eaters and the file ended with why and how they were finally arrested and why they were declared innocent at their trails. The proof that these men were Death Eaters was right in her hands, andhad beenin the hands of the Ministry. But, money from the Death Eater themselves or their family was also in the Ministry's hands which was a large factor in why they walked (no matter what bull was written in their file).

With another sigh, Paige placed a side the folder that held the report of Amycus Carrows and moved her hand to pick up Alecto Carrows', Amycus sister, folder which was next in the pile. Just as she opened the folder and saw Alecto's face looking up at her, Paige heard a pecking at her kitchen window. Looking out of the window from her seat at the kitchen table, Paige didn't recognize the owl she saw. Dropping Alectos folder and picking up her wand Paige moved closer to the window, then pointed her wand at it and watched as the window opened wide enough for the owl to fly in. Once inside the small apartment the owl landed on the table and stuck out it's leg for Paige to until the letter attached. Again, instead of using her hands, Paige pointed her wand to do the job. Free of it's burden the owl stretched it's wings and flew out of the still opened window.

Closing the window, Paige walked over the table and looked at the letter. It didn't have any writing on it, giving her no chance of identifying the sender by handwriting.

"Mmm," Paige said softly to her self as she flipped the letter over and looked at the wax seal. Deciding that reading it was the only way she could identify the letter, Paige gently tapped the wax seal with her wand and it promptly split and the letter unfolded. Her eyes widened a little as she saw whose handwriting she was reading. After reading the letter through two or three times and glancing at the clock, Paige went to get her cloak and Floo Powder wondering what could have happened for Sirius to send her this letter.

* * *

_She's not coming,_ Sirius thought as he sat in the living room watching the embers of the fire slowly die. It was pointless to keep sitting there like he was, but he didn't want to give up hope just yet. With a sigh, Sirius stood from his spot on the couch facing the fire and walked to the kitchen; he might as well 'not give up hope' on a full stomach. Since the fire was dying, the living room and kitchen were pretty much in darkness. Sirius was therefore thankful that he had already spent much of his time in the kitchen making it easy for him to find his way. Opening up one of the cabinets where he believed he had found a bag of chips before, Sirius started shifting things around looking for the said chips. Suddenly the cabinet and kitchen was bathed in green flickering light. Turning around, Sirius saw that the fire grate was full of green flames singling an arrival via Floo Powder. 

"What's going on?" Paige asked as soon as she stepped out of the fire and spotted Sirius.

"You came." Sirius stated looking at Paige, shocked to really see her there.

"What's going on?" Paige asked again, walking over to Sirius looking around the room as though expecting to see something amiss,like a dead body.

"I, um," Sirius began saying, finding himself wishing he had thought of what to say if she did come. "Well, Remus is on duty tonight and I needed to talk to someone."

"What's wrong with James that you couldn't talk to him?" Paige asked, thrown by Sirius response. This was the last thing she thought was coming.

"It's about Harry, and I don't think I should, or could, discuss this with James." Sirius said, lowering his voice as though James was in the room. "Come on, I don't want to talk out here in case he comes up." He said while subconsciously taking hold of Paige's hand has he walked past her to lead her upstairs to the study.

"What happened? Is he okay?" Paige asked worriedly, referring to both James and Harry when she said 'he'.

"Yeah, he's fine. It's me that has the problem." Sirius said. Deciding this was one of the times when Sirius was truly being serious, Paige bit her tongue to keep her scathing remark to herself.

Once they reached the study and Sirius had closed the door, Paige repeated her inquiry.

"Okay, well Harry and James are still having some problems," Sirius began sitting down in one of the chairs.

"That's understandable though," Paige added, sitting down next to Sirius.

"Yeah well, things were going good. Then things went kind of back to where they started. And I was just talking to Harry about it and…" Sirius trialed away and put his head in his hands, unsure if he could really say aloud what he was thinking. Knowing that Sirius was having a hard time with whatever he was trying to say, Paige gave him silence to sort his thoughts out.

"For over two years now, pretty much everything I've done has been based upon Harry, or with him in mind. I never, never wanted to be his father. But I came to the point of excepting that I was the closest thing he had to one. But, now I'm not. He has his father, his real father now. What am I going to be to him now?

"And James, is going to get to be there for Harry like I never could. Cause, once all the hype about James coming back dies down, he's going to be able to walk through Hogsmeade with Harry. Have normal conversations with him in normal places. I could never do that. I can't do that." Sirius fell into silence, waiting for Paige to give her thoughts on the matter.

"You're worried about being shut out by Harry and not getting to experience things with him that James will." Paige said slowly, summarizing up what Sirius had said for her own benefit. "Sirius, you make such a big impacted on peoples lives that it's impossible to shut you out."

Sirius looked around at her, and stared hard at her trying to see signs of lying in her face; they weren't there.

"I'm sure that Harry knows what you've done for him. And for those reasons, I can't see him ever shutting you out. And, yes James will have experiences that you wont with Harry. But, Sirius…to James, he has only recently lost Lily. He's not going to be up for dealing with a teenager all by himself. Add in the fact that you already know Harry better then he does, you're still going to play a large role in Harry's life." Paige said, reaching over and taking Sirius' hand while she spoke. This wasone ofthe fewmethods she knew to make sure Sirius was listening.

"Please don't think I'm not happy for them," Sirius said.

"Never crossed my mind."

"I want what's best for both of them," Sirius went on look down at his hand which was still being held by Paige.

"I know you do.

"It's just that I don't want to be pushed into the back round of Harry's life."

"I promise that you wont be." Paige said softly. Sirius took his eyes away from their intertwined hands and looked instead at Paige. She looked back at him. But before anything else could be said, or any other movements made, there was an interruption by the voice of Remus Lupin.

"Sirius, are you up there?"

At this interruption Paige released Sirius' hand and stood from her seat. Sirius followed her lead.

"I should get back. There's still some reports that need to be written up." Said Paige as Remus' foot steps up the stairs could be heard. Sirius just nodded, not able to say words that he wasn't even sure should be said. "Did I help any?" Paige questioned with genuine concern in her voice.

"Yeah. Thanks for coming." Sirius said, meaning what he said.

"No problem," Paige answered, already moving toward the door leaving Sirius standing in front of the desk.

Moments after she opened the door and exited Remus entered.

"Did I interrupt something?" Remus asked looking at Sirius.

"We can only guess." Sirius said running a hand through his hair.

* * *

Harry didn't forget what Sirius had told him, and he didn't forget that he needed to talk to James. But his schedule just wouldn't allow it. Classes were increasing their difficulties to prepare for O.W.L's and as a result teachers were increasing their homework assignments. Which is why Harry could be found sitting in the common room struggling with some potions homework instead of improving a weak father-son relationship. 

"Hermione," Harry said weakly from behind his potions textbook. "Do you think you could tell me what this means in English?" He asked holding the textbook out to her opened to the potion he was supposed to be analyzing.

"No." Hermione said simple, not even looking up from her own work.

"That's a bit harsh." Ron said, since Harry was too shocked to speak for himself. Hermione's thoughts on Harry and Ron copying her work were well known, but she rarely declined explaining things to them.

"I have my own work to do, and Harry has someone else that he can ask for help." Hermione said; Harry thought he saw her lips twitch.

"Who the bloody hell are you thinking of? You can't think _I_ get this rubbish." Ron said.

"Oh for heavens sake." Hermione said, finally putting her quill down and looking up at Harry. "You haven't been to see your dad yet. And I know that you've been busy and your worried about it being awkward," she hurried on when Harry opened his mouth to argue. "Asking for help with your homework will show him that you don't think he hates you, it will get you to see him while not falling behind with your work, and it will keep the situation from becoming awkward if you have a topic to fall back on."

Harry stared at her. She had put a lot of thought into this plan.

"Sounds like a good plan, mate." Ron said, nodding his head in approval.

"And what am I suppose to say? 'Snape is evil and I'm inapt at potions. Can you help me even though I thought you hated me?'" Harry asked his friends. Ron and Hermione looked at each and then back at Harry.

"Well, that would be a conversation starter, that would." Ron said.

* * *

Sirius was talking to him, but James wasn't listening. It had been two days since James had last spoken to Harry, and it was killing him. Sirius kept insisting that he had set Harry straight and that the teenager had been planning to seek his father out, and that Harry was merely busy. But James still worried that Harry continued to think James hated him. He was so wrapped up in his thought that he didn't even notice that Sirius had stopped talking as a result of the entrance of a certain teenager. 

"Hey, Harry." Sirius said.

"Hey, Sirius." Harry answered, shifting his potions book from one arm to the other nervously when he took note that James made no noticed of his presence.

"Oi! James." Sirius said, snapping his fingers in James direction while standing up. Coming out of his daze, James looked around at Sirius who was walking away from him.

"What?" But James quickly found out what. Sirius walked over to Harry and placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder, and started to steer him over to the couch. Sitting up straight and running a hand through his hair, James greeted his son; hating that he felt uneasy.

"I was having some trouble with my potions homework and I thought that maybe…I mean I understand if your too busy, but I was wondering if you could help me?" Harry said to James as Sirius sat him down on the couch.

"Sure I'll help you." James said, getting up at once and moving to sit next to Harry. "What's the assignment?" James asked interestedly, praying that he would remember things from his potion making days.

"We have to analyze," Harry said, opening his textbook and flipping through the pages, "this potion." He added when he came to the correct page. "And I don't understand what it's saying at all."

"Hmm, well to analyze you have to know what it does, what are the side-effects and how to make it. With that information you can dub it a Dark potion or not a Dark potion." James said, taking the textbook and reading the potion information. "Good thing you're in your O.W.L year, cause if you weren't there would be no way I could help you. Here write this 'This potion can be considered a 'Dark Potion' because of it's side-effects,' then copy down the side-effects here and explain why the side-effects are a bad thing." James said pointing out what Harry should copy down.

Picking up his quill and parchment that he had brought with him, Harry wrote down what James had said.

"You weren't good at potions?" Harry asked.

"Well, to become an Auror you have to take potions N.E.W.Ts class, so I took it and passed." James said, watching Harry write and thinking of what else should be included. "But, I was never really all that great with potions. I could follow the instructions and make a pretty decent potion, but it ends there. Your mum on the other hand though, she could brew almost anything. Here, add this line in there after you copy all the side-effects."

"Which line?"

"This one, 'The Ministry carefully monitors it's use'. Every once in awhile the Ministry keeps tabs on things that need to be tabbed. But anyway, your mum was great in potions. And by the time I had to take N.E.W.Ts me and your mother had become friends and she was willing to help me. If it wasn't for her, I really don't think I would have pasted potions."

"Old Slugy didn't think you would either." Sirius said, who had been happily watching James talk and help Harry with his homework.

" 'Old Slugy'?" Harry repeated, pausing in his writing to look at his father and godfather.

"Horace Slughorn." James said to Harry. "He was the potions master when we were here. He liked to pick his favorites, your mum being one of them."

"Why was she one of his favorites?" Harry asked, returning to his essay.

"Because she was an amazing witch and one hell of a girl." James said, feeling a tug on his heart strings as he spoke about Lily. He looked at Harry from the corner of his eye, and could have been looking at himself. But when Harry looked up to ask a question, James was looking into Lily's eyes.

"Were you one of his favorites?" Harry asked interestedly.

"Yeah, though I must say I wasn't one of his favorite favorites. If that makes any sense." James said.

"Why not?"

"Well, the thing with Slughorn and his club, the "Slug Club", yeah I know. What a name right?" James asked when Harry let out a snort of laughter at the name of the club his parents had been apart of. "The whole point was for him to make connections between past members of the club and present members. He picks those with connections already and/or those who have loads of promise but just need a connection." James went on.

"And also those who he would want to say he had in his club." Sirius added in. "If he was still around Harry, I'd bet your broom stick you'd be a slug just because of your scar."

"Problem with me though," James went on, "was that I knew I had promise, and I knew that I had connections without him. My parents, your grandparents, were very well known and respected in the Ministry. I didn't need his help to get any where. Neither did anyone else in the club, except a few who were just rich or there because of a surname, but I was one of the few that knew it and told him so." James finished. Harry nodded.

"Okay, now what do I write?" Harry asked, having just finished writing what James had instructed him to write.

"State what the potion does, and how that can used wrongfully." James said, looking at Harry's essay.

"So did he kick you out of the club?" Harry asked as he brought his quill to parchment again.

"Nope," Sirius answered for James. "No matter how hard he tried to get kicked out."

"You wanted to get kicked out?" Asked Harry.

"Like I said, I didn't need him to get connections, so he tried to make connections for other people through me. I didn't like being used like that." James said.

"Where you in it Sirius?" Harry asked looking at his godfather.

"Nah, by the time I was old enough to become a member, everyone knew my feels about my family and their connections. And even though the Black Family was rich, I was pretty much cut off. I would have been a waste of space." Sirius said with a shrug, indifferent to not being wanted in the Slug Club.

"How long does this essay have to be, Harry?" James asked, looking at the length already written and wondering how much more was needed.

"A roll and a half of parchment." Harry said.

"Bloody hell. Just because old…just because Snape had no life when he was a student doesn't mean he has to make _his_ students suffer too." James said running a hand through his hair.

"Snapes mission in life seems to be to make as many lives as miserable as he can." Harry said rereading what he had written so far.

"And I'm sure he tries his hardest with you," James muttered. "Yes, I must have a talk with Snape one of these days."

"I say just prank him. One of the old ones, you know. So he is left in no doubt of who did it." Sirius said.

"One of the old ones?" Harry repeated looking up at the two men.

"How much of the essay do you have written now Harry?" Sirius asked.

"A little over half a roll."

"Well, since your gonna be here for awhile, how about you hear some retellings of the good old days, eh?"

* * *

A.N- I can offer no reason for the lack of updates except for the fact that my life simple got surprisingly busy. I so, so deeply hope that you guys can understand that.

Thank you over and over again for the reviews and for reading my story. Over 500 reviews…Wow, thank you.

This time, I really will put some of my thoughts about this chapter in my profile.

Please, please tell me what you think about the whole Sirius, Paige interaction (what they discussed as well) and the Harry and James interaction. I feel like the latter fell slightly flat and I'm unsure how I feel about it. I love knowing what you guys are thinking and feeling, so let me know.

I think that's all…Review!Review!Review!

Till Next Time!


	28. Will you teach us?

James Potter was not the type that got nervous very easily. Being a Marauder how could he? On the rare times that he did get nervous however, he had the horrible habit of bouncing his leg. Try has he might, he could not break it. Sometimes it got so bad, that he actually had to grab his leg with his hands and physically stop it from moving. And that was the last thing he wanted to do at the moment; he didn't want to show any sort of sign that might be taken as weakness.

Today was the day that James had his meeting with Umbridge to discuss Harry and his "problem". While Harry was doing his homework and listening to Sirius and James relive some of their more memorable events of school, he past along the note from Umbridge that he had been given a day prior. It was then that the truth behind the scars on Harry's hand came out. Harry had to cast the Body Bind jinx to keep Sirius and James in the room and keep them from jail for harming a Ministry Official.

"This is my battle with her, and you'll just get yourself into trouble," Harry had said.

No matter what James said, Harry remained un-swayed. But, that didn't change the fact that James was his father and that he was going to take a form of action. As soon as Harry left for the night, James set off for Dumbledore's office. After yelling at the headmaster for not knowing what was happening to his son, James demanded advice on what to do.

"She will insist that Harry did it to himself, as that seems to be her plan." Dumbledore said softly after a few pondering moments. "And, I admit it is painful to say, but people will take her side over Harry's at the moment."

Many situations and plans later, a decision of what should be done when James had his meeting with Umbridge was formed. So the next day when he received a letter from the said woman, James was prepared. And that is what he was trying to remind himself as he sat in her painfully pink office to quite his nerves: he is prepared, he is prepared.

"Well Mister Potter, beating around the bush will do us no good." Umbridge said standing behind her desk looking at James who met her gaze.

_She's probably enjoying that fact that she can actually look down on me while I'm sitting and she's standing…Short little toad. _James thought to himself as he observed her smirk.

"Yes, I quite agree Madam Umbridge." James said evenly.

"I do not know if it has come to your attention yet Mister Potter, but your son has a problem." Umbridge said, sitting down in her chair finally and folding her hands.

"As a matter of fact, yes it has come to my attention." For a moment it seemed as though Umbridge was waiting for James to attack her, something which would play into her plan. James however just bit his tongue and waited to hear what else Umbridge had to say.

"Yes… Well I hope you'll agree with me on the course of action I believe should be taken," Said Umbridge, watching James carefully.

"And what action is that exactly?"

"I, like you I am sure Mister Potter, want what is best for young Mister Potter. Therefore I think he should be sent to St. Mungos for mental evaluation."

Silence rang between them for a few moments. It took all James self control not to take out his wand hand hex Umbridge into next week.

"Mental evaluation?" Questioned James through gritted teeth.

"Why yes. There must be something mentally wrong when someone takes to mutilating their body. Especially with words of self-hatred." Umbridge said with fake concern in her voice.

"And this is based purely on your thoughts and opinion alone? That is what I am lead to believe as none of Harry's other teachers have stepped forward with such a claim in four years."

"Thoughts and opinion alone? No, no Mister Potter. All the evidence I need I saw on the back of young Potters hand. And, come now Mister Potter," Umbridge let out one of her fake girlish giggles. "I am not the first person to question the sanity of your son. Surly you must have been told about-"

"Yes," James cut her off. "I was made aware of the rumors made my Rita Skeeta and I must say that I am shocked that anyone who works at the Ministry of Magic could take anything that women says as fact. Given what she has said about the Ministry while I worked there alone." Umbridge sucked her tongue in disapproval, but James went on before she could speak again.

"I agree with you about there being a, er, problem with my son. What I do not agree with is your method of correcting it. The idea of him being committed is outrageous and I will hear nothing of it. As his father, I would like to wait for another teacher to step forward with such a concern. On there own, without any prompting from you. Then, and only then, will there be _discussion_ of my sons sanity."

"You are willing to allow a problem of self harm to continue?" Umbridge asked sharply. "If, as a parent, you go down that path Mister Potter there are departments within the Ministry to help children without proper adult care."

Completely losing his control, James jumped to his feet.

"The Ministry will not dare try and take my son away from him." James growled.

"You think highly of yourself Mister Potter, for such a young person. Believe me; the Ministry would indeed "dare" to remove a fifteen year old boy from the care of a twenty one year old man. Especially one who will not take the necessary measures to help the boy."

"What in the world does age have to do with it?" James shot, unable to keep a chill of fear from running up his spin. "Even more so as I am, in fact, thirty five."

"Only in numbers Mister Potter. In life experience, you are twenty one." Umbridge simpered at him.

"And I am taking the necessary measures to help my son." James went on, trying to not let Umbridge's words affect him.

"I am waiting for a second opinion to come forward from a teacher whose opinion I trust and value. No one within the Ministry would take my son away from me because I waited for a second opinion because that is what people are encouraged to do." James said to Umbridge, watching for signs of disappointment on her face at the fact that James knew the Ministry laws. To his disappointment, her face remained blank.

"Now, if that is all Madam Umbridge I shall be on my way." And with that James walked out of her office, not waiting for any kind of answer knowing full and well she would have something to say.

A few days after the meeting, James wondered if he was part of the reason Umbridge now seemed determined to flex her muscles. Educational Decree number 23 had been past, making the newest Hogwarts professor the first High Inquisitor to infect the school. According to Harry, she wasted no time before beginning to inspect the other teachers.

"I've never been more proud to have McGonagall has my head of house before." Harry had said to James and Sirius after retelling the events of the inspection of Minerva McGonagall.

The new power Umbridge had required James sitting Harry down and explaining to him how important it was to keep his mouth shut. James had been blunt with Harry about what could happen if Umbridge was crossed, he couldn't risk Harry losing his temper with Umbridge and ruining what was slowly becoming a father-son relationship.

"It's best we not test just how strong she really is, Harry. You could be taken out of my care and placed in some ward at Mungos. I know it's gonna be hard, but you really have to bite your tongue in her class from now on." James had explained, and to his relief Harry didn't put up a fight and since their talk hadn't done anything to anger Umbridge. Though most days Harry had some kind of contact with Umbridge ended with him going to James' living quarters and screaming his frustrations to his father.

The first time Harry did this, he was worried that he went to far and it would annoy James but to his surprise all James did was wait for him to get it all out, smile softly, ask "Got it all out?", then changed the topic. Harry was extremely grateful for the constant understanding James showed which led to him spending more and more time with James. Most evenings found Harry, accompanied by Ron and Hermione, in James' living quarters. Awkwardness between the two of them was almost nonexistent now and Harry was finding himself looking forward to the time he spent with James more each day.

But even with all this progress, Harry had yet to call James 'Dad.' Most of the time Harry was able to pull off not having to address James by any sort of name, but some times it was necessary and in those times it was always 'James.' Harry knew it hurt James, it could easily be seen in his father's eyes…but Harry just wasn't there yet. And he didn't want to mess things up by forcing it, especially when things were going so good.

"How long were you an Auror, James?" Hermione asked one evening as the teens sat on the floor of the quarters doing homework.

"About four years. Five if you count the one year of training," Answered James from his place on the couch.

"One year of training?" Ron said looking up at James startled. "I thought you had to train for three years or something before you became a full fledge Auror."

"Yeah, it is supposed to be three years. But when I applied it was a time of war. A war in which Aurors were dying meaning they needed more forces, so they made the training time only two years."

"And yet you were done in one?" Asked Harry, to which James smiled.

"If you were really good, they made it an even shorter amount of time: one year." James said smiling.

"That doesn't seem wise," Hermione said. "Rushing people out of training like that."

"Thinking back, it probably wasn't," James answered scratching his head. "But they needed us, and we _were_ good. And they hardly ever did that. I think there were only three people that got through that quickly."

"You, Paige, and that bloke Caradoc Dearborn, right?" Sirius said coming from the kitchen with a butterbeer in hand.

"Yep, just the three of us." James said smiling proudly. "And don't pretend to not know Dearborn, mate." The smile James wore now turned to a smirk as he watched Sirius take a seat.

"I'll pretend to not remember that bugger all I want." Sirius said stiffly.

"He was in the Order." Said Harry suddenly, remembering the old photograph Moody had shown him over the summer. "He went missing…" Harry said looking from James, who lost his smirk, to Sirius who looked slightly guilty at speaking ill of the dead.

"Yes…he was and he did. Damn good Auror and very helpful in the Order, so naturally he was a target on the Death Eaters list." James said carefully. By some stroke of luck, the first war didn't come up in conversation with Harry most of the time. And those times when it did come up the conversation didn't last long. James had a feeling this conversation might not follow that same pattern.

"Why didn't you like him Sirius?" Ron asked looking at the older man who was examining his butterbeer bottle as though it was the most interesting thing he had ever seen.

"Well… Let's just say we had similar taste in women." Sirius said.

"And by 'women' he means 'woman.'" James explained to the teenagers.

"That Summers woman?" Hermione questioned innocently, though when Sirius looked up at her she looked like she wished she hadn't asked.

"One in the same," Sirius said curtly with a nod. "And even though he was a good Wizard he wasn't his best when she was around. Nerves I guess. But that presented quite a problem, didn't it? Aurors can't ever be off their game. Nearly got her killed a few times."

"Though in the end it was all for the best, because she became my partner and we worked wonderfully together," James cut in, seeing a hunted look cross over Sirius features as thoughts of all the times Paige could have been killed crossed his mind.

"She wasn't in the picture Moody showed me." Harry said, interested in the woman that seemed to have some sort of hold over his godfather.

"I believe she was mission when that picture was taken," James said, recalling her complaints at missing the photo.

"Yeah, she was," said Sirius. There was a few moments silence, the teens unsure if it was alright to continue with this conversation and Sirius and James lost in thoughts of the past.

"Do you think you'll go back to a defensive type of job, James?"

At Hermione's question, James looked over at her getting the feeling there was some kind of reasoning behind her questions.

"I don't know, maybe I will. Why do you ask?" Before Hermione answered, she glanced at Harry silently asking him to do this for her.

"Hermione had this idea, and she wanted to know what you thought of it." Harry said.

"Yeah?" James asked interestedly.

"Yeah…see, we're worried about how we're not learning anything in Defense Against the Dark Arts. Cause you know we have O.W.L.s at the end of the year, and of course everything going on with Voldemort." Harry explained. "And we think that we should take matters into our own hands and learn real Defense. You know, to prepare ourselves. But the thing is…" Harry trailed off, looking at Hermione who gave a nod of encouragement.

"We're past the stage where we can just learn things from books. We need a teacher."

There was silence again for a few moments.

"What exactly are you saying?" James asked his son and his friends slowly. Sirius let out his bark like laugh.

"Isn't it obvious James?" At James' look of confusion, Sirius explained with a smile,

"They want _you_ to teach them _real _Defense Against the Dark Arts."

* * *

A.N- I'm a senior who had to apply to college, is captain of a varsity sport, and who is taking four AP classes. Can I be forgiven for being a horrible updater? I don't blame you if you say 'no' to that question.

I can't, and wont, drop this story. Thank you for sticking with it, it means the world to me…Really.

Please review and share your thoughts. (What do you think about James being the one asked to lead a DADA 'study group'?) Nothing gets me writing like reviews.

Till Next time. Which I promise wont be as long.

P.S. Blackie-San: This chapter is thanks to you. I got you're review today while home from school sick, and it really kicked me in the butt to get writing. You were the final straw on the guilt-camels back. So, thank you.


	29. Decision

"You're going to have to give him an answer at some point, Prongs."

"I'm aware of that Padfoot."

"And it's totally up to you what that answer will be. Cause really, when has other peoples opinions of what should and shouldn't be done effected you?"

"Another fact that I'm aware of Padfoot. But this is different from a pranking a classmate, there could be serious consequences for the kids involved."

"Only if you get caught," Sirius said with a wink. James merely sighed and went back to his thoughts.

Several days had past since Harry, Ron and Hermione asked James about teaching them Defense Against the Dark Arts. In those few days, James' thoughts on the matter had gone back and forth about what his answer would be. His first reaction was that of course he would teach them…then Hermione mentioned involving other students therefore making an entirely different situation. Teaching his son and two of his son's friends was something that could be done quietly without causing too much trouble. Parents were encouraged to teach their children things; James would simply be doing his part. Involving other students meant the risk became that much greater because there would be more students actively defying Umbridge behind her back, something that would not go unpunished if discovered.

"You don't have to give an answer tonight…" Harry had said, sensing his father's uneasiness. James took him up on that offer, promising the teenagers he'd give them an answer after thinking it over.

Once Harry and his friends left, James turned to Sirius who had been silent for some time. When Sirius didn't say anything James had let out a pointed sigh and ran a hand through his hair, a clear sign that he wanted to know what Sirius thought.

"Why do you need time to think? This is a bloody great idea!" Sirius had finally said.

James had tried to explain how more kids would cause more trouble, but Sirius remained firm in his belief that it was a great idea.

The next night there had been an Order meeting at Number Twelve Grimmauld Place. James and Sirius flooed to headquarters early so that James could inform Remus of Harry's request before the meeting started. When Remus arrived James quickly pulled him aside and hurriedly filled the werewolf in. All Remus had time to do was raise an eyebrow before other members of the Order of the Phoenix began to arrive and demanded to give James their welcome backs.

"Tell Dumbledore," Remus whispered to James, who was shaking hands with Dedalus Diggle while the said wizard exclaimed over and over how happy he was to see James again.

Once everyone had greeted James and fussed over him, the noise of someone clearly their throat carried over the kitchen causing all eyes to look at the Headmaster of Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry who was standing at the head of the long table.

"I am deeply sorry to have to cut such a wonderful reunion short," Dumbledore said, eyes twinkling at James from behind his half-moon spectacles. "But I would like to call this meeting of the Order of the Phoenix to order."

At his words, everyone moved to take their seats at the table. James took a seat next to Sirius and Remus took the seat on the other side of James. For a second James allowed his mind to take him back to past Order meetings…The seating arrangement had been the same then too: Sirius and Remus on either side of him. Lily had always sat across from him complaining that he would distract her if they sat together. Shaking his head to clear himself of such thoughts, James looked up at Dumbledore who had begun speaking.

After Dumbledore had gone over guard duties for the Department of Mysteries, listened to some member's reports of known Death Eater movements, and gave out a few new tailing assignments he began to call the meeting to a close.

"Before we all go our separate ways, or stay and celebrate the return of one of our own I will open the floor to anyone that has something they feel should be addressed."

Remus gave James a hard nudge, clearing indicating _Speak up._

"Um," James began unsure of how to explain. He had thought he had more time to plan. "Yesterday Harry asked me if I would teach him and a group of students Defense Against the Dark Arts since they're not learning any real defense from Umbridge."

There was a moment of silence after James had spoken.

"Did you give an answer?" Dumbledore asked.

"No, I said I would have to think it over," said James. There was another moment of silence before Molly Weasley spoke sharply.

"Albus, you can not allow this. Umbridge will surely expel the lot of them should they be caught! And this is their OWL year!"

"Which is why it's so important the kids learn what they are going to be tested on," Said Sirius tersely causing James to at his best friend, shocked that he spoke that way to Molly. They had both known her during the war and liked her exceedingly well.

"And they're learning that from Umbridge. She needs them to pass; it will be a poor reflection on the Ministry if the children fail under their teachings."

"And what about everything that's going on outside of Hogwarts? They need to be prepared! Death Eaters are going to use more grown up spells then those used on the practical exam." Sirius fired back. Molly opened her mouth to argue back but Dumbledore held up a hand to stop their argument.

"There are no rules in Hogwarts that can stop a group of students from getting together and forming a…study group," Said Dumbledore, speaking slowly. "I can not imagine Dolores allowing a study group of Defense Against the Dark Arts, especially a group containing Harry Potter, to continue meeting if it comes to her attention however. If such a group is made, it would be best to keep it from her. Also, the less your hand is detectable in the group James, the better. Cornelius will be most uneasy should he learn you are teaching students to fight and that will cause trouble for many people."

"Yeah, I know," James said while is imagination ran wild full of thoughts of what would happen to Harry should the group be caught.

"The choice is yours then. I will not pretend to hide my wish for my students to be able to protect themselves from the dangers of our time. All I ask is to be kept up to date with whatever your decision is."

After that Dumbledore called an end to the meeting and left to, presumably, return to Hogwarts. Once again there was a rush to get at James as people didn't seem to have gotten enough before the meeting.

James sighed again has his thoughts returned to the present.

"Where would I teach them?" He asked.

"Does this mean you will?" Sirius asked in return, sitting up a little.

"It's a factor of if I will. There is no point in saying that I'll teach them, then have the whole plan fall apart simply because there was no where with enough room to teach them," answered James. Sirius scoffed at this.

"I don't believe I have ever heard such doubt in this castle from you before. This is bloody Hogwarts! There has to be somewhere in this place big enough."

"I guess…" James said trailing off. "It would also depend on how many kids are part of this."

"There are about twenty five people, not counting Ron, Hermione and myself." A voice from the door said. James knew the voice belonged to his son without turning to look. It was the number of kids that was the cause of James head whipping around.

"Twenty five!?" At James' tone, Harry began explaining at once.

"Hermione talked to all these people before I had any clue she was planning on it. And some of the people she said 'she couldn't turn away' when they heard her talking to others. I already told her she was crazy if she expected you to teach so many," James cut him off.

"Don't worry. It's, it's alright. I was just shocked."

"So…have you thought about it?" Harry asked walking over to the couch and sitting down facing his father.

"Yeah, I've thought about it. The thing is kid there are lots of risks in this. I wouldn't put it past Umbridge to do everything in her power to put an end to it."

"We know," said Harry. "But this woman is evil. Doing something this big under her nose is one of the reasons everyone wants to do it…And besides, we're sitting ducks here in school learning nothing."

It was hearing the words 'we're sitting ducks' come from Harry's mouth more then anything that caused James to say,

"I'll do it, Harry. I'll teach you guys."

Harry had proved in past years that he was not the kind to sit in the backseat and that he would effortlessly put himself into danger. If this pattern was going to continue, it would not do to have Harry unprepared. It would not do for James to allow his son to be a 'sitting duck' waiting for Death Eaters or Voldemort to attack and unable to stand his ground when they did.

* * *

"You're gonna teach a bunch of teenagers how to defend themselves?" Paige asked as she walked from the kitchen nursing a cup of tea.

"Yep," answered James stretching his arms high above his head. It was nearing midnight and he would have loved to be in bed right now, but Paige had showed up an hour ago and James knew Sirius would kill him if Paige was booted out. Plus when asked how her day was, Paige had answered 'bad' and James knew she came to get her mind off whatever had happened to cause her bad day.

"It should be interesting to see," Sirius remarked smirking whiling thinking of James playing the role of a teacher. At Sirius' words James threw a pillow at his best friend cause Paige to chuckle lightly.

"You do realize you're not going to be able to watch, right Sirius?" As soon as the words left James' mouth he regretted it. Sirius' face grew slightly dark and his fits clenched slightly.

"Yeah James, I did realize that." Sirius said in a tense voice.

"Sirius, calm down," Paige said sternly. "You're not going to be in this hiding situation forever."

"Don't tell me what to do, Paige." Sirius' anger at once moved from James to Paige.

"Then don't get angry at James because he said something about you being in hiding, clearly forgetting how emotional you can be." Paige fired back.

James looked between Paige and Sirius confused. This came out of nowhere. They had been fine for an hour; fine since reentering each others lives the night Paige brought James to headquarters. A little awkward maybe, but nowhere close to yelling at each other.

"Oh and you haven't forgotten me?" Sirius replied his voice dripping with sarcasm. This wasn't what James' expected to hear and judging by Paige's face it seemed she didn't see it coming either.

"What are you talking about?" Ask Paige completely bemused.

"Nothing, nothing at all. I'm going to bed." With that Sirius rose from his chair and stormed to the staircase and quickly descended the stairs. Once he was out of sight, James turned to look at Paige who was staring at the staircase with her mouth open in slight shock.

"What was that about?" asked James.

"No bloody idea," Paige answered him.

"You too have seemed…fine." James went on. Paige snorted humorlessly.

"Seemingly fine, yeah." Paige said standing from her seat. "I'm going to go talk to him… or maybe just hex him." With that Paige followed Sirius' footsteps and walked downstairs.

James sighed hoping things would work themselves out between Sirius and Paige. They kept each other strong and alive in the first war, which made the awkwardness between them odd to see for James. The last time he had seen them together before awakening in his tome they had been holding hands, kissing and James believed there were whispers of love.

Pushing thoughts of his two friends from his mind, James stood and headed up to the study. Since it would probably be best to avoid the bedroom floor James thought now would be as good a time as any to begin making a list of the spells to teach the Harry and his peers in this Defense Group.

* * *

A.N- It was a bit of a wait for this chapter, but not as long as the wait for the last chapter right? Please share with me your thoughts on this chapter and everything going on in it. Next chapter will have the conversation/fight between Sirius and Paige. And your reviews will help that chapter come sooner hinthint. They truly make me happy.

Hit that little button on the bottom left and side of your screen and

Till Next time.


	30. Twisting the Deal

_Expelliarmus. Stupefy. Shield Charm. Impedimenta. Disillusionment? Body-Bind… _

A blot of ink fell on the parchment as James took his time trying to think of another spell to teach the kids. Or at least that's what he was trying to do, but his mind kept wandering to other things. For one, Paige had left him about an hour ago to yell at Sirius and James could only hope that the continued silence of the quarters meant that they weren't killing each other. Then of course there was still the idea of what James was preparing to do that demanded his thoughts…he was preparing to teach teenagers to fight, no, to protect themselves for the up coming war. And never more than as he was trying to come up with a list of spells someone needs to know in order to defend themselves, did James feel the true sadness of children having to live in a time of war. He and his friends never mourned the loss of their youth as they dived head first into work for the Order of The Phoenix and therefore the war, but at this moment he couldn't help but mourn for these children he'd be teaching to fight. Because this would be their first step toward diving into the war, whether they are aware of it or not.

"What is this world coming to when children feel the need to take the matter of protecting themselves into there own hands?" The twenty one year old said with a sigh too heavy for someone his age.

_Confundus charm. Conjunctivitis Curse. Freezing Charm. Full Body-Bind. Trip Jinx. Tarantallegra._

* * *

"All I'm saying is that after everything we went through, I thought you'd be a bit more loyal." Sirius said with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Loyal?" asked Paige taking a step closer to the stubborn man in front of her. "You were in Azkaban for killing thirteen people! I couldn't exactly walk around the office saying 'Gee, I sure do miss Sirius.' Do you have any idea what I went through?"

"What you went through?!" Sirius yelled throwing his hands up into the air out of frustration.

"I was brought into questioning, 'cause since we were screwing I _should_ have known you were evil." She finished ignoring Sirius' interruption.

"Aw, poor Paige. She was pulled in for questioning." Spat Sirius. "Do you have any idea, any idea of what I would do to be simply pulled in for questioning? You must know, since you did _oh so_ much work to see it happen the first time around."

"Don't you dare! Don't you dare try and blame me for you not getting a trail," Said Paige, her voice cracking a little.

"How can I not? Did you do anything to try and help me?" Sirius waited for an answer but all he got was a tear falling down Paige's cheek. "I'll take that as a no."

"What could I do Sirius? They suspected me to have known about it, and if I pushed for anything in your favor I probably would have lost my job."

"Lost your job?" Sirius choked out, totally unwilling to believe she was this selfish.

"Yeah, there was that and the fact that I was having a rather large emotional breakdown, which slowed things down a bit. I needed something to hold on to, and my job was the only thing I had left.Yes, Sirius," She added upon seeing his reaction to her mention of a breakdown. "The man I loved was thrown into Azkaban for mass murder, and apparently had a part in the murder of my partner and his wife. That's the stuff breakdowns are made of."

A tense silence fell between them, each waiting for the other to say something.

"Don't blame me for it Sirius. I all but died that day," whispered Paige. Sirius started moving as though to take a step closer to her but stopped, unsure. When Paige didn't give any answer to his movement or hesitation he moved forward so he was standing directly in front of her.

"I should have told you we switched, and I should have gone to you first before going after Wormtail," He said staring down at her.

"Yes, you should have," she said quietly with a slight chuckle. They stood their simply looking at each other for several moments before Sirius became bold and brushed some hair behinds Paige's ear. An action he knew she loved, and in the past was always followed by a kiss.

"Where are we?" Sirius asked, knowing that Paige would understand he couldn't say 'where is our relationship now' aloud. Paige cleared her throat and took a step back from him.

"We're no where. I've moved on Sirius. I had too. And…there is just too much happening for anything to happen with us again." As Paige spoke, her voice became stronger with each word and Sirius could feel her pulling farther and farther away from him. "You have to get James and Harry to where they need to be, and you need to get your own life back."

"And you?" She smiled sadly at his question.

"Well see there are these evil nutters running around and I'm getting paid to stop them. Even if people don't believe they're running around."

There was once again silence between them and after a few moments Paige turned and left the room.

* * *

James awoke on the couch the next morning to the sound of voices, voices that were trying hard to be quiet, but voices never the less. His eyes snapped opened and the sight that greeted him was his son, Ron and Hermione looking over the list of spells James had made up the night before. Rubbing his eyes under his glasses, James checked his watch and it told him that these kids were up far too early on a Saturday.

"That's just a rough draft of the spells I think you guys should know," James said while trying to suppress a yawn. He chuckled a little when they all jumped at the sound of his voice. Harry started to say that they had tried not to wake him but James waved him off.

"You guys do know that it's a Saturday, right? Teenagers are supposed to sleep till noon on Saturdays."

"Today is the first Hogsmeade weekend," Hermione informed him.

"Ahh, I see." James got up to stretch out his muscles.

"And, um…" Hermione glanced to Harry silently asking him to say whatever they decided needed to be said. Harry shook his head and went back to looking at the list of spells, leaving Hermione to do the dirty work.

"Well, we're going to meet with the kids that want to learn while we were there. Just to make sure they know what they're getting into and so that everyone is on the same page." James nodded his head.

"Good plan, doing it off school grounds. Where are you planning on having this meeting?" Hermione seemed pleased that James thought it was a good idea, and went on with a bit more confidence in her voice.

"Well, I thought some where that we wouldn't be bothered yet we're allowed to go. I asked Professor Flitwick, and he said that students are allowed into the Hog's Head so we'll meet,"

"The Hog's Head?" James cut her off. "Hermione, that's a shady place. And a place that you most defiantly will be over heard in."

"But," Hermione began "Surely its better then the Three Broomsticks, which will be packed with people."

"Which is what you want, Hermione." James said patiently. "It'll be so packed with people, students from Hogwarts especially, that no one will think twice if they see a group of students sitting together. And more over, with a lot of people comes a lot of noise and a lot of noise makes it hard to hear private conversations."

"Bloody hell," Ron said. "Did you come up with all that on the fly James?"

"Of course not," said James with fake sternness in his voice. "The Marauders used to have lots of private conversations."

"But there are going to be a lot more than 4 people," Hermione said. "If the group is too big, random people might join just to see what's going on. People might be even more inclined to see what's going on if you and Harry are part of the group. The center of the group more over, since you two will be speaking to them."

"Come again?" Harry asked at the same moment James said "You want me to be at this meeting?"

"Well, yes." Hermione said to James pointedly ignoring Harry's glare. "You'll be the one teaching us, shouldn't you be there telling them what the can expect?"

"Hermione, I haven't been in public since well, since I was in public," James was sure they would know he was referring to when he was pronounced alive and the press had a feeding frenzy. "You're right that having me there attract much unwanted attention. You'd be better off without me."

"But I thought you could explain to them,"

"Have Harry do it," Said James, gesturing toward his son who turned to look at him with wide eyes.

"What? Me?"

"Yeah, kid," chuckled James. "You're the connection between them and me; it would only be fitting if you were, second in command or something of the sort." Before James had even finished, Harry had started shaking his head.

"I can't do that. What do I know?"

"You know enough to be alive right now, and your peers know that." James said, becoming serious. "I've been thinking about this Harry, and it's really not right to lead this little rebellion of yours. I'll help you in anyway I can, but…I can't be the one leading these kids. They don't know me and I don't know them. But they know you and know what you've done."

"Most of the school thinks I'm crazy and doesn't believe all that stuff," said Harry.

"Not the ones that would be there Harry. Do you really think I would offer this to people who think you're off your rocker? They all believe what you're saying about You-Know-Who." Hermione said swiftly.

"See? There you go. You can feel them out at this meeting. Set them straight, explain to them that I'll help with anything you want me to help with but you'll be the one calling the shots." James said with a smile.

"What are you talking about?" Harry asked angrily. "Stop smiling! Nothing I've done had anything to do with learning the right spell. I got by cause I was lucky and help came at the right times! You were an Auror! Everyone could learn so much more from you. Luck, that's all I have."

"If you wont run this little rebellion, then I wont help."

James' words were met with a silence only interrupted by Harry's heavy breathing.

"It's not right for me to lead this Harry. This isn't my battle no matter how much I wish to fight it for you."

"You said you'd do it," Harry said, looking at James with eyes that screamed they were let down.

"Yeah, well, I can't not help you," answered James running a hand through his hair. "But really Harry, denying your good at Defense Against the Dark Arts is just like denying your good at Quidditch. The results will speak differently no matter what you say."

An uncomfortable silence once again fell around them. James hated that he was twisting this situation around on Harry, but he really felt that this was how it had to be. Ron and Hermione glanced between the father and son unsure of what to do with themselves.

"What would you do if I was in charge?" Harry finally asked.

"I would help you think of spells they should know, I would help you make sure everyone was doing the spells correctly, stuff like that." James said glad Harry's tone wasn't as angry. They were silent for a few more moments before Harry stood up.

"I'll talk to them today, but I still don't like the whole me being in charge thing," said Harry as he walked toward the door.

"Then we'll talk about it more when you come back," James said as Ron and Hermione stood up as well and followed Harry.

"I have homework I need to do when we get back," said Harry stiffly with his back still to his father.

"Maybe after that then?" James knew he was being punished for pushing Harry to do this.

"Maybe," and with that Harry left the quarters. Ron and Hermione gave James a sympathetic glance before following.

* * *

"A few people, Hermione?" Harry asked hoarsely as more people pulled chairs around the table Harry, Ron and Hermione were sitting at. The trio had been in the Three Broomsticks for five minutes when people began bring chairs closer to their table. First Neville stumbled over to them, ginning nervously and with him came Dean and Lavender. No sooner did they start shifting their chairs did the Patil twins, Cho and one of her friends, and all three of the Gryffindor chasers walk over to them through the crowd. Hermione glanced around, stood up and walked over to a neighboring table and asked if they would move so that the large party could fit. They only left when Hermione offered to buy them a round of butterbeers. This tactic had to soon be used on another table as the Creevey brothers, Ernie Macmilan, Justin Finch-Fletchley, Hannah Abbott, and another Hufflepuff girl walked through the door and headed straight for the growing gathering. Just when Harry thought there would be no room for anyone else, three Ravenclaw boys, Ginny, a boy from the Hufflepuff Quidditch team, and lastly Fred and George Weasley with Lee Jordan pushed their way through the group and managed to find an edge of a chair to sit on. 

"A lot of people liked the idea," Hermione said happily looking over at the group.

"Rosmerta," Fred called over to the barmaid. "Could we please have, oh lets see," he paused to count the number of heads around the three tables. "Twenty-four, no sorry, twenty-five butterbeers?"

"Oh my," Rosmerta laughed good-naturedly looking around the large group. "Quite a gathering you have here." Fred winked wrapped an arm around his twins shoulders and said,

"Have to tell our jokes to someone, don't we Madam?" Laughing she walked away to get the butterbeers. "Alright cough up your money everyone, we're not treating you lot."

Harry watched as the group talked amongst themselves, and handed the butterbeers out among themselves when Rosmerta came back with a loaded tray. He then took a moment to glance around the pub and saw that were glances sent their away a few times from some different customers but they were just glances. James was right; no one would pay them too much attention here. It was only then that Harry realized the group had become rather quite and they were all staring at him. He glanced at Hermione, who understood that his glance meant "you started all this, you start this little meeting."

"Well, hello everyone," Hermione said in a voice that was a bit higher than normal. Everyone's eyes flicked over to Hermione.

"Okay, well you know why we're here. I had the idea that – that it would be good for people to really learn – and I mean really learn – defense against the dark arts because we are clearly not getting it from Umbridge. So for us to learn real defense against the dark arts, we'll have to take matters in our own hands." Pausing to breath, Hermione glanced at Harry.

"This will also have something to do with wanting to pass your defense against the dark arts O.W.L, I'm sure," said one of the Ravenclaw boys, Michael Corner.

"Of course I want to pass, but it's more than that," Hermione said. "I want to be to be able to defend myself because…because Lord Voldemort is back."

A witch sitting at the bar who was carefully watching the group laughed at everyone's reaction when Hermione said Voldemort's name, even though the witch too gave a bit of a shudder. Taking a swig of fire whiskey, the witch pushed the Extendable Ear a little further into her ear to make sure not a word was missed.

An hour or so later from then found the "witch" sitting in the kitchen of Grimmauld Place reliving the kids meeting to Remus Lupin.

"So all the kids jump when that girl says You-Know-Who's name," Mundungus slurred still sitting in the dress he was forced to wear to keep from being recognized, "Right funny sight that was."

"It's not right for you to make fun of them Mundungus when you can't say Voldemort's name yourself," Remus said with a slight smile.

"Yeah well, anyway. So this one berk starts running 'is mouth how all the 'You-Know-Who is back' talk is just based on what 'Aarry says, 'n there isn't proof for it or some bullocks of the sort. 'Arry told 'im off, 'e did." Dung paused to take a puff on his grimy pipe. "Then they all asked 'Arry if all the stuff the 'e's done was true, 'e said it was. Next they get into who's gonna be teaching 'em. 'Arry was sayin' James, and that bossy girl was sayin 'im and James would be doin it together. The kids loved that, started askn' 'Arry 'bout his dad, boy was right uncomfortable. The annoyin' kid started runnin' his mouth 'bout some dead guy teachin' 'em. 'Arry nearly hex 'em. After that they were tryin' to work a place for it to happen. Didn't get no where, the bossy girl said they'd think on it. Had 'em sign some thin' sayin' they wouldn't tell no one nothin'. Left after that, they did. Wanted to grab 'em twins, but they were off first."

"Thanks Dung," Remus said, closing his ink bottle since he had finished taking notes on what Mundungus had to report. Mundungus simple puffed on his pipe and summoned a bottle of Sirius' fire whiskey toward him.

Remus got up, walked around the table, and made his way to the fireplace while reading over the notes he had just made. Once in front of the mantle, he reached into a jar upon it and grabbed some Floo Powder. Stepping into the fire he said, "James Potter's Quarters, Hogwarts School," dropped the powder, and with that he was gone in a whorl of green flames.

* * *

A.N- Thoughts and feelings? Please, please share them with me. Let me know what you're thinking in a nice lengthy review, because that will make my day. 

Till Next Time.


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